Do Kwon

2018

Do Kwon and Daniel Shin co-found Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.

9 May 2021

UST loses its $1 peg for the first time, briefly falling to approximately $0.30. Do Kwon allegedly arranges for Jump Crypto to secretly purchase UST to restore the peg, then publicly attributes recovery to the protocol's algorithmic mechanisms.

7 May 2022

Large UST sell orders totaling over $285 million executed on Binance and Curve, beginning the Terra ecosystem collapse.

8 May 2022

Luna Foundation Guard deploys $1.5 billion in reserves in an unsuccessful attempt to defend the UST peg.

9 May 2022

Approximately $5 billion UST (35% of Anchor Protocol deposits) withdrawn in a single day. UST falls to $0.35.

12 May 2022

LUNA plunges 96% to below $0.10. Multiple exchanges halt LUNA trading. UST stabilizes near $0.02. Approximately $40-45 billion in combined market capitalization destroyed.

13 May 2022

Do Kwon proposes a Terra blockchain restart (Terra 2.0) as LUNA becomes effectively worthless.

September 2022

Interpol issues a Red Notice for Do Kwon at the request of South Korean authorities.

16 February 2023

SEC files civil complaint against Terraform Labs and Do Kwon in the Southern District of New York, alleging multi-year securities fraud and unregistered securities offerings.

23 March 2023

Do Kwon and CFO Han Chang-joon arrested at Podgorica Airport, Montenegro, while attempting to board a private jet to Dubai using falsified Costa Rican and Belgian passports.

25 March 2023

U.S. Department of Justice files criminal indictment (23 Cr. 151) charging Kwon with eight counts including securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud, and related conspiracy charges. U.S. submits formal extradition request.

19 June 2023

Montenegrin court sentences Kwon to four months' imprisonment for use of forged travel documents.

November 2023

Montenegro High Court upholds Kwon's passport forgery conviction and approves extradition to the U.S. or South Korea.

5 April 2024

Jury in SDNY finds Terraform Labs and Do Kwon liable for civil fraud on all counts after less than two hours of deliberation, in a nine-day trial conducted in Kwon's absence.

12 June 2024

Judge Jed Rakoff approves final consent judgment ordering Terraform Labs and Do Kwon to pay over $4.47 billion in combined civil penalties, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest.

August 2024

Montenegro Court of Appeals rules Kwon should be extradited to South Korea rather than the United States.

27 December 2024

Montenegro Justice Minister Bojan Bozovic signs order approving Kwon's extradition to the United States.

31 December 2024

Do Kwon extradited to the United States and transferred to FBI custody at Podgorica Airport.

2 January 2025

Do Kwon appears in U.S. federal court and pleads not guilty to criminal fraud charges.

12 August 2025

Do Kwon pleads guilty to two fraud counts: (1) conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, securities fraud, and wire fraud; and (2) wire fraud. Agrees to forfeit over $19 million.

11 December 2025

Judge Paul Engelmayer sentences Do Kwon to 15 years in federal prison, calling the fraud 'an epic, generational scale' crime affecting an estimated one million victims.