The SEC of the US, or Securities and Exchange Commission, has proposed that a New York court impose a fine of $5.3 billion on Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon. This penalty comes in response to their involvement in the 2022 collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which cost approximately $40 billion.
More recently, a Manhattan court found Terraform Labs and Kwon guilty of misrepresenting the stability of their claimed “algorithmic” stablecoin, Terra USD (UST), and the related applications for the Terra blockchain. Consequently, they were held responsible for civil fraud charges.
Two weeks after the trial, the SEC filed a request for a final judgment in which they asked for $4.74 billion, consisting of disgorgement and prejudgment interest, to be paid by Terraform Labs and its representative Kwon. Furthermore, the SEC proposed civil penalties amounting to $420 million for Terraform Labs and $100 million for Kwon.
In a legal document, the Securities and Exchange Commission argued that Kwon and Terraform Labs amassed over $4 billion in unlawful profits, possibly even more, through their wrongdoing.
According to court records, from June 2021 to May 2022, investors bought approximately $2.3 billion in UST on various crypto exchanges. Meanwhile, institutional buyers acquired a combined $69.5 million in LUNA and $4.3 million in MIR. Through the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), there were transactions totaling $1.8 billion for both LUNA and UST.
According to the SEC’s assessment, the large sum of money was considered a “moderate estimate” or “approximation” of the illegal earnings accumulated by Kwon and Terraform.
The SEC intends to impose penalties and obtain injunctions against Kwon and Terraform Labs, preventing future breaches of securities regulations and forbidding any role in crypto asset securities. Furthermore, Kwon is subjected to a ban on serving as an officer or director at publicly traded companies that file reports with the SEC.
According to the SEC, these actions are essential to prevent further rule-breaking, given the defendants’ apparent lack of regret and persisting danger. Notably, Terraform Labs’ CEO’s statement regarding continuous token offerings casts suspicion over their adherence to regulations.
The SEC harshly criticized Amani’s testimony, viewing it as a confession of potential recurring offenses. They labeled it as brazen. The SEC specifically called out Terraform for distributing a new token, LUNA 2.0, to investors while simultaneously spending large sums from previous investments and continuing to distribute unregistered securities.
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2024-04-23 23:16