In January, the Terraform Labs co-founder pleaded not guilty to several charges, including securities fraud, market manipulation, money laundering and wire fraud.
A federal judge overseeing the case against Do Kwon has scheduled a Tuesday conference at which the Terraform Labs co-founder “may enter a change of plea.”
In a Monday filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Judge Paul Engelmayer ordered the parties to appear in court on Tuesday, which could suggest that Kwon was preparing to change his plea for some or all of his charges.
The Terraform co-founder initially pleaded not guilty to nine felony counts in January after a monthslong extradition court battle in Montenegro ended with his removal to the United States.
“[T]he defendant should be prepared to give a narrative allocution that incorporates all elements of the offense(s) to which the defendant is pleading guilty,” said Engelmayer. “In the interest of clarity and efficiency, the Court encourages counsel to assist the defendant in writing an allocution that can be read in open court during the plea proceeding.”
Kwon was indicted in March 2023 for charges including securities fraud, market manipulation, money laundering and wire fraud related to his role at Terraform. He was allegedly responsible for contributing to the crash of the Terra ecosystem, which wiped out $40 billion in investor assets.
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His whereabouts were unknown to the public for months after the 2022 crash, until authorities in Montenegro arrested Kwon for using falsified travel documents. Kwon’s legal team fought extradition requests from the US and South Korea in Montenegro’s courts for more than a year before he was handed over to US officials in December 2024.
Kwon pleaded not guilty to all US charges in January and has been held without bail for about seven months. Before the scheduled Tuesday plea conference, his criminal trial had been expected to begin in January 2026.
What kind of deal could Kwon get?
It was unclear at the time of publication what kind of plea deal Kwon’s legal team may have reached with US authorities. According to court filings, SDNY’s team, headed by the office’s interim US Attorney Jay Clayton, engaged in “productive discussions” with Kwon’s lawyers for months.
The Tuesday conference will come just six days after the same district court found Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm guilty of running an unlicensed money transmitting service. He is expected to be sentenced soon.
Terraform separately settled a lawsuit with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024. The company agreed to pay about $4.5 billion in disgorgement fines, civil penalties, and prejudgment interest.
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