Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years for fraud in US
Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs and creator of the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in the United States for fraud connected to the collapse of his digital coins. A federal judge in Manhattan imposed the sentence after Kwon pleaded guilty in August 2025 to conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud charges related to the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna in 2022, which wiped out an estimated $40 billion in investor funds and triggered major losses across global cryptocurrency markets. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer described Kwon’s actions as “a fraud on an epic, generational scale” and rejected both the prosecution’s and defence’s earlier sentencing suggestions before handing down the 15-year prison term. The court also ordered forfeiture of assets linked to the fraud and noted the widespread financial harm suffered by retail and institutional investors worldwide. Kwon’s guilty plea followed his extradition from Montenegro, where he was arrested years earlier after fleeing U.S. authorities.
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