The U.S. DOJ said it would continue to seek the extradition of Do Kwon to the United States, fearing that South Korea may give the Terraform Labs founder a lighter sentence for fraud and securities violations.
Initially set for January 29, the SEC postponed Do Kwon’s trial by two months to allow him to attend, but extradition delays will see him miss the start of the trial on March 25.
The new amendments will hand life sentences to any criminal that embezzles over $3.8 million, with the minimum time served for digital currency crime at one year.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Treasury has proposed bringing OTC venues under the city’s regulations, arguing that they have been used to perpetrate ‘crypto’ fraud.
Despite the many legal cases against Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon having the company in dire straits, the bankruptcy petition does not mean the immediate end of the company.
A U.S. federal judge has delayed the jury trial of former Terraform Labs CEO and founder Do Kwon, who was charged in February 2023 over the Terra UST and LUNA scandal that saw an estimated $60 billion being wiped out of the digital asset space.
The U.S. regulator is looking to get the upper hand in its case against Binance and Coinbase, using its recent victory against Terraform Labs as leverage to bolster its unregistered securities claims.
Besides ruling in favor of the U.S. securities regulator on claims Terraform and former CEO Do Kwon sold unregistered securities, Judge Rakoff also denied the defendants' motion for a summary judgment on fraud claims.
2023 is a challenging year for the digital asset space, with major firms collapsing, high-profile names getting into lawsuits, and regulators rushing to balance innovation and regulation.
The U.S. was in the lead in its race with South Korea for Do Kwon’s extradition, but an appellate court has canceled the ruling, saying the process was irregular.
Montenegro's "top justice official" privately said he plans to send Do Kwon to the U.S., where he is facing charges related to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, the Wall Street Journal reported.
While the court may submit queries to the jury in resolving factual disputes, determining whether an asset is a security still lies at the hands of the court, the U.S. securities regulator argues in its latest filing.
