Terraform Labs
Its dollar stablecoin fell to about 10 cents within a week in May 2022
The Singapore-incorporated company, founded in Seoul by Do Kwon and Daniel Shin, that built the Terra blockchain, the TerraUSD (UST) algorithmic stablecoin and the LUNA token.
- Capital raised (announced)
- Estimated
Recorded announced backing; this is separate from cash received, customer deposits and money recovered.
- Assets and liabilities at filing
The ranges the company gave for both its estimated assets and its estimated liabilities in the bankruptcy petition, as reported the day after it was filed.
- SEC settlement, company
Disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalty the company and its chief executive agreed to pay after the jury verdict, as reported. An amount owed under the settlement, not an amount paid.
Funding
| Round | Date | Announced | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 seed round | 2018 | ||
| 2021 growth round | 2021 |
Announced is what was said at the time. Cash actually received is rarely disclosed and is not assumed to match.
People
| Name | Role | Period | Now | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do Kwon | Jan 2018 – end | Sentenced on 11 December 2025 by Judge Engelmayer to 15 years' imprisonment | Oct 2026 | |
| Daniel Shin | Jan 2018 – end | Not established | Oct 2026 |
Timeline
January 2018
Started in Seoul by Do Kwon and Daniel Shin.
9 May 2022
Over the following week UST fell to about 10 cents and LUNA to virtually zero.
13 May 2022
Halted by Terraform Labs as UST and LUNA fell.
25 May 2022
A proposal passed to issue a new LUNA on a new chain and abandon UST. The original chain and token were renamed Terra Classic and LUNA Classic.
21 January 2024
The company said the filing would let it keep operating while it dealt with litigation in Singapore and the SEC's lawsuit in the United States.
How it ended
UST lost its dollar peg in May 2022 and LUNA fell to virtually zero; Terraform Labs halted the chain on 13 May, and a new chain was launched, leaving the original as Terra Classic. The company filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware on 21 January 2024 while contesting an SEC lawsuit, and after settling with the SEC its plan to wind down was approved in September 2024.
What happened next
- Criminal charges14 September 2022
Issued for him and five others, all of whom prosecutors said were living in Singapore.
- Regulatory action16 February 2023
The complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleged securities fraud and violations of registration rules.
- Criminal charges23 March 2023
Montenegro's interior ministry said he was arrested at Podgorica airport while trying to leave for Dubai on a fake Costa Rican passport. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicted him on eight counts hours later.
- Court ruling5 April 2024
A civil jury in Manhattan agreed with the SEC that they had misled investors.
- Regulatory action12 June 2024
The company and Do Kwon agreed to pay in disgorgement, interest and penalties, at least $204 million of it by Kwon personally.
- Court ruling19 September 2024
US Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon approved the plan in Wilmington, Delaware.
- Criminal charges31 December 2024
He pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment in January 2025.
- Criminal charges12 August 2025
Conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud, before US District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan.
- Court ruling11 December 2025
Imposed by Judge Engelmayer, above the 12 years prosecutors had sought.
Still alive
Open spot
Terraform Labs is gone. Is your stablecoin still running?
Spotlight your project here.
Sources
17 sources behind this page.
- 1Do Kwon, wanted in $40 billion crypto token crash, arrested in Montenegro · CBS News · Mar 2023
- 2Do Kwon pleads guilty to U.S. fraud charges in $40 billion crypto collapse · CNBC · Aug 2025
- 3SEC charges Do Kwon, Terraform with fraud in connection with Terra collapse · CNBC · Feb 2023
- 4Terraform Labs and founder Do Kwon found liable in U.S. civil fraud trial · CNBC · Apr 2024
- 5Terraform Labs files for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. · CNBC · Jan 2024
- 6South Korea issues arrest warrant for developer of failed cryptocurrency Luna · CNN · Sep 2022
- 7Terraform Labs Declares Bankruptcy in Delaware · CoinDesk · Jan 2024
- 8Terraform Labs, Do Kwon Agree to Pay SEC a Combined $4.5B in Civil Fraud Case · CoinDesk · Jun 2024
- 9Terraform's Do Kwon Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Fraud · CoinDesk · Dec 2025
- 10Galaxy, Coinbase Bet $25M on DeFi Using Terra Stablecoins · CoinDesk (via Yahoo Finance) · Jan 2021
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- 11Binance Labs, Polychain Capital And Other Big Names Invest $32M In Terra Stablecoin · Coinspeaker · Aug 2018
- 12Stablecoin Project Terra Raises $32 Million to Build the 'Next Financial Ecosystem' · CryptoSlate · Aug 2018
- 13Terraform Labs secures court approval to wind-down operations after settling with SEC · CryptoSlate · Sep 2024
- 14Terraform Labs announced that it has received $25 million in funding from Galaxy Digital Holdings LP, Coinbase Ventures, Pantera Advisors LLC, #Hashed, Arrington XRP Capital, Kenetic Trading and other investors · MarketScreener · Jan 2021
- 15United States v. Kwon, 23 Cr. 151 (PAE) (Terraform Labs Fraud) · U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York · Dec 2025
- 16Do Kwon · Wikipedia · user-editable
- 17Terra (blockchain) · Wikipedia · user-editable
Every figure above is clickable and opens the sources behind it. Copies were stored when each source was read, so a citation still resolves after the page it came from is gone.