Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of economics and cryptography.
South Korea Allegedly Freezes Do Kwon’s $40M worth of Crypto – Luna Founder Says Funds Are Not His – Regulation Bitcoin News
South Korean authorities have reportedly frozen $40 million in crypto assets, including bitcoin, allegedly belonging to Luna founder Do Kwon. However, Kwon denied that any of his funds have been frozen. “I don’t even use Kucoin and Okex, don’t have time to trade, no funds have been frozen,” he insisted.
Prosecutors say they have frozen Do Kwon’s crypto, including Bitcoin
South Korean prosecutors have reportedly frozen nearly $40 million in crypto assets allegedly belonging to Terraform Labs co-founder Kwon Do-hyeong (also known as Do Kwon). Quoting Korean publication News1, journalist Colin Wu tweeted Wednesday:
South Korean prosecutors have frozen $39.66 million of crypto assets, including BTC, owned by Do Kwon through two exchanges. Do Kwon and LFG have previously denied trying to transfer their 3,313 BTC after being issued an arrest warrant.
The coins were frozen on cryptocurrency exchanges Kucoin and Okx, the publication noted, adding that the two trading platforms have agreed to freeze Kwon’s crypto at the request of prosecutors.
South Korean prosecutors revealed last month that they were trying to freeze 3,313 bitcoins linked to Kwon that were transferred to Kucoin and Okx from a wallet allegedly linked to Luna Foundation Guard (LFG). However, the organization denied the claim, insisting that it “has not created any new wallets or moved BTC or other tokens held by LFG since May 2022.”
Following the news that prosecutors are freezing $39.66 million worth of crypto belonging to him, Kwon took to Twitter to deny that the frozen funds are his. “I don’t understand the motivation behind spreading this falsehood – muscle staining? But to what end?” the Luna founder tweeted Tuesday, adding:
Once again I don’t even use Kucoin and Okex, don’t have time to trade, no funds have been frozen. I don’t know whose funds they have frozen, but good for them, hope they use it for good.
A South Korean court issued an arrest warrant for Kwon on September 14. He is accused of fraud after the collapse of the cryptocurrency luna (now called luna classic (LUNC)) and stablecoin terrausd (UST). Also, Interpol has issued a red notice for him. “A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action,” Interpol’s website says, adding that “Red Notices are issued for fugitives who are wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence.”
The Luna founder’s whereabouts are currently unknown. He was believed to be in Singapore, but Singapore police recently said he is currently not in the city-state. Kwon has claimed that he is not “on the run”, tweeting recently that he “makes zero effort to hide”.
Do you think South Korean prosecutors have frozen Do Kwon’s crypto? Let us know in the comments section below.
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