Terraform co-founder Shin indicted over Terra, Luna cryptocurrency crash

SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors indicted Daniel Shin, a co-founder of Terraform Labs, Tuesday in connection with the massive crash of the cryptocurrency firm's TerraUSD and Luna coins in May last year that wiped out nearly 50 trillion won (US$37.5 billion) in market value.

The Seoul Southern District Court indicted Shin, 38, without physical detention on multiple charges, including fraud, breach of duty and embezzlement, prosecutors said.

Together with Do Kwon, the other Terraform co-founder currently detained in Montenegro for passport forgery, Shin was behind the structuring of the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies, whose implosion led to the wipe-out of nearly 50 trillion won in market value. Prosecutors are seeking the extradition of Kwon.

TerraUSD was designed as a stable coin, which was pegged to stable assets, like the U.S. dollar, but plunged as low as 10 cents in May, breaking its 1-to-1 peg with the U.S. dollar.

Prosecutors suspect Shin knew the price peg system was algorithmically impossible but duped investors around the world into investing in the coins by keeping their prices up via trading manipulation and fraudulent publicity campaigns.

Shin and his accomplices had already pocketed 462.9 billion won in illegal profits when the two coins crashed last year, prosecutors concluded.

Shin is also charged with collecting 122.1 billion won of investment from venture capital firms at home and overseas with a sham project promoting the coins as a currency to pay for goods.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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