Following the development of the Do Kwon story and understanding why this case is attracting so much attention. The guy who was one of the main figures in the Terra crash recently asked the judge to limit his sentence to five years. Sounds crazy, considering the scale of what happened.

For context: the collapse of TerraUSD in 2022 wiped out about $40 billion from the market. This isn’t just another loss in the crypto industry — it was one of the most destructive moments in history. The algorithmic stablecoin collapsed, LUNA plummeted, and this created conditions that later contributed to the fall of FTX. Overall, it was a cascade of liquidations across the entire market.

Do Kwon has already served nearly three years, mostly in Montenegro under fairly harsh conditions, where he was arrested for using fake documents. He pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy and fraud charges. His defense team claims that’s enough and adds that he has agreed to forfeit over $19 million plus additional assets.

But here’s the crux: U.S. prosecutors disagree. Although they agreed not to seek more than 12 years as part of the plea deal, it’s still expected that their recommendation will be much harsher than the five years the defense requests. Technically, Do Kwon could face up to 20 years for wire fraud plus up to five years for conspiracy.

What’s also interesting — he’s simultaneously facing charges in South Korea, where prosecutors are demanding 40 years. Yes, forty. The deal allows him to serve half the sentence in the U.S. and half in Korea, but only if he fully complies with the conditions.

The sentence was handed down by Judge Paul Adam Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York. The SEC already won a civil case against Terraform Labs and Do Kwon in 2024 — jurors concluded that both intentionally misled investors. That’s a bad sign for his chances of getting a reduced sentence.

In his statement, Do Kwon said he voluntarily worked with others to deceive clients and admitted that it was wrong. He took full responsibility. But it seems this won’t significantly influence the court’s decision. The story of this case remains one of the most high-profile in the crypto industry.