Ever since the Terra Ecosystem collapsed in May 2022, several questions and bits of speculation have flown around about Do Kwon as to what happened and why he did it.
Is Terra’s Co-founder guilty of what happened? Is he really on the run? This and several other questions are on the entire crypto community’s lips.
And finally, speaking to Laura Shin on “the unchained podcast,” a Youtube channel dedicated to interviewing guests from the crypto space and having them share their thoughts with the public, Kwon has revealed what happened precisely.
The Do Kwon Case
The general public’s interest in the embattled Terra Founder’s case spread like wildfire in September when South Korea issued an arrest warrant for his arrest.
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The issue of Kwon’s arrest escalated when Kwon refused to turn himself in. Originally believed to be in hiding in Singapore, he was promptly reported to have left the country following the issue of this arrest warrant.
There is now a full-blown manhunt for Kwon by Interpol and other relevant law enforcement agencies.
Recall that Kwon was one of the creators of LUNA and UST, the algorithmic stablecoin that collapsed earlier this year and wiped out $60 billion in value between both the cryptocurrency LUNA and the stablecoin UST.
Speaking about the red notice issued by Interpol, Kwon stated that contrary to what everyone says, a red notice is not an international arrest warrant, as stated on its website. Kwon adds that every sovereign nation can choose to interpret these red notices as they see fit.
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Elaborating on a question asked by Unchained Podcast host Laura Shin about why Kwon hadn’t responded to the arrest warrant, Kwon stated explicitly that he had not seen a copy of the arrest warrants and that everything he knows about it is all from the media.
Kwon’s Cooperation with the Authorities
Speaking further, Kwon has stated that none of the charges about the US Capital Markets act applies to the allegations he currently faces because the US Government’s stance has been that cryptocurrencies (and therefore LUNA or UST) are not securities and should not be governed by the Capital Markets act.
Recall that in correspondence with the Korea Times around August, Kwon stated that he would cooperate fully with the authorities.
Clarifying speculation that he was on the run, Kwon stated that the main allegations of whether he was on the run from the authorities are tied to whether or not his leaving Singapore was a deliberate move.
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However, Kwon has clarified that the main reason for him keeping his actual location a secret isn’t about hiding from the authorities. He adds that his hidden location is more related to situations between May and now in which his privacy and personal security were threatened.
Kwon added that there were multiple break-in situations when people (including reporters) broke into his apartment.
As to whether $67 million of his funds were indeed frozen by the Korean government, Kwon has clarified that he has no funds in crypto exchanges, KuCoin or OKEx. He goes further to say that the reports are false and that he would have noticed if $67 million of his funds were indeed frozen.
Terra’s Co-founder Apologizes
Further down, Kwon owned up to the vulnerabilities that led to the Terra crash and apologized to the people who lost countless dollars and crypto. “It’s not easy,” Kwon Says “the hardest thing about the current situation is having to contend with so much loss”
Kwon went further to say that “the scale of the financial, economic, and emotional damage that happened here is not easy to live with.”
He acknowledged that his beliefs and comments about the stability of UST misled people to “gain confidence in a system that ultimately failed.”
Kwon states that while he deeply regrets how things panned out with UST, he hopes that new developers learn from what happened and create decentralized forms of money that are not just censorship-resistant but are more robust, transparent, and resistant to failure.
While Kwon isn’t specifically working on Luna Classic, he added that he is still working on other open-source projects and that Terra, while it lasted, was never about money, fame, or success. Instead, it was about giving back to the community, which he intends to continue doing.
Disclaimer: The author’s comments and recommendations are solely for educational and informative purposes. They do not represent any financial or investment advice. Always DYOR (do your own research)
