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Korean crypto mogul Do Kwon pleads guilty to fraud charges in massive crypto crash

Published: 13 Aug. 2025, 09:02 Updated: 13 Aug. 2025, 09:21

Montenegrin police officers of the PJP (Special Police Unit) escort Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon, center, at the exit of a court in Podgorica, Montenegro, on March 23, 2024. [AFP/YONHAP]

Disgraced Korean crypto mogul Kwon Do-hyeong, better known as Do Kwon, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a set of fraud charges, as he stands trial over a crypto crash that resulted in over $40 billion in losses to investors in the United States and around the world in 2022.

Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud during a court hearing in New York, Reuters reported. He has been charged with being involved in schemes to deceive investors to fraudulently inflate the value of Terraform's cryptocurrencies.

He faces up to 25 years in prison for the two charges in question, but prosecutors have agreed to push for a prison term of no more than 12 years on condition that he takes responsibility for his crimes, according to Reuters.

In January, he pleaded not guilty to his indictment that included charges of commodities fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. The U.S. Justice Department said earlier that Kwon could face up to 130 years in prison if he is convicted of all charges.

Kwon was extradited to the United States from Montenegro in December, where he was arrested in March 2023 for traveling on a fake passport.

Korean authorities have also sought to bring him to Korea on charges connected to the crash of TerraUSD and Luna coins run by his company.

A U.S. district judge plans to sentence him on Dec. 11.

Yonhap