Terraform Labs co-founder indicted in South Korea

Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, is among ten individuals charged in South Korea, as legal repercussions from the Terra crisis continue to unfold across multiple countries.

Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, has been charged alongside nine other individuals in South Korea on various offenses.

Shin, together with seven others, faces allegations of unlawful trading, while the remaining two have been accused of violating trust. As reported by Bloomberg, all implicated individuals have ties to the Terra project.

South Korean authorities have seized assets worth an estimated 246.8 billion won ($184.7 million) from those charged. Shin, who co-founded Terraform Labs with Do Kwon in 2018, is said to have left the firm in 2020. His LinkedIn profile reveals that he subsequently founded a payments enterprise named PortOne Global.

Since last year, prosecutors have attempted to arrest Shin, but their initial efforts were blocked when a court denied the arrest warrant, citing a low likelihood of him fleeing.

In March this year, they resumed their efforts to apprehend him. During a press conference, prosecutors described the entire Terra initiative as a “hoax.”

The legal consequences of the Terra crisis have now spread across several nations. In Montenegro, Do Kwon, Terraform Labs co-founder, and CFO Han Chang Joon were detained last month.

Both the U.S. and South Korea are requesting Kwon’s extradition; however, Kwon and Joon must first address charges of utilizing counterfeit passports in the country where they were arrested.

Kwon is attempting to have the charges filed against him by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped, claiming that the tokens linked to Terra do not qualify as securities. His argument gained traction when a South Korean court determined that Terra Classic (LUNC)—the rebranded LUNA version—is not considered a security.