Do Kwon's $40 billion TerraUSD collapse case sentenced: 15 years in prison in the US, South Korea may add 30 years for prosecution

【Crypto News】Terra co-founder Do Kwon was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the United States federal court in Manhattan for orchestrating the $40 billion TerraUSD collapse. However, this may not be the end — Korean prosecutors are pursuing separate charges, seeking a sentence of over 30 years for violations of capital market laws.

This 34-year-old Korean developer’s actions have far-reaching consequences. Approximately 200,000 Korean investors suffered direct losses of about 300 billion KRW (equivalent to $2.04 billion). U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer’s language during sentencing was especially severe: "In the history of federal prosecution, few fraud cases have caused such serious harm."

Do Kwon has admitted to the core crimes: from 2018 to 2022, he deliberately engaged in large-scale fraud targeting Terraform Labs cryptocurrency buyers. The scam exploded in May 2022 — the TerraUSD stablecoin and Luna tokens collapsed simultaneously, triggering a chain reaction across the crypto market, affecting countless retail and institutional investors.

Under U.S. law, Do Kwon has the opportunity to apply for transfer to South Korea to serve his sentence after serving half of his term. This means he could face judicial sanctions from both countries simultaneously.