In a significant development, Terraform Labs agreed to a civil settlement of $4.47 Billion with the Securities and Exchange Commission after being found guilty of defrauding cryptocurrency investors during the infamous Terra (CRYPTO: LUNA) implosion in 2022.
What Happened: A jury found Terraform Labs and its disgraced founder, Do Kwon, guilty of defrauding cryptocurrency investors, according to a Reuters report Wednesday. A proposed final judgment was filed in a Manhattan federal court, awaiting approval by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff.
The judgment includes $4.05 billion of disgorgement plus interest, and a $420 million civil fine. However, due to Terraform's bankruptcy filing in January, much of this is unlikely to be paid and will be treated as an unsecured claim in the Chapter 11 case.
Kwon has agreed to a ban on cryptocurrency transactions and is required to transfer $204.3 million to Terraform's bankruptcy estate. The SEC stated in a court filing that the judgment would "ensure the maximal return of funds to harmed investors and put Terraform out of business for good."
Why It Matters: The case against Terraform Labs and Do Kwon has been ongoing for over two years. In April 2024, a United States District Court found that Terraform Labs and Kwon had defrauded investors during the stunning collapse of stablecoin TerraUSD (CRYPTO: UST) and reserve cryptocurrency LUNA, an event that wiped out more than $40 billion in market cap within a week and triggered a cryptocurrency bear market.
In the same month, a former employee of Jump Trading testified that Jump Trading had colluded with Terraform Labs to manipulate the price of UST.
Price Action: At the time of writing, LUNA was exchanging hands at $0.5476, up 0.34% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Its sister token, Terra Classic (CRYPTO: LUNC) rose 2.23% in the last 24 hours.
Photo via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Terraform Labsは、2022年に起きたTerra（CRYPTO：LUNA）の大暴落中に暗号通貨投資家を欺いたことが発覚し、証券取引委員会との民事和解金額は44.7億ドルに合意しました。
何が起こったか：ロイターの報道によると、審判員は水曜日、Terraform Labsとその失脚した創業者Do Kwonが暗号通貨投資家を欺いたと認定しました。マンハッタンの連邦裁判所に提出された最終判決案が承認待ちです。
判決には、40.5億ドルの返還金に加えて、利息と4.2億ドルの民事罰金が含まれています。ただし、Terraformが1月に破産を申請したため、この多くは支払われず、第11章の場合、未債権扱いとなります。
Kwonは、暗号通貨取引の禁止に同意し、2.043億ドルをTerraformの破綻財産に移転することが求められています。証券取引委員会は裁判所への提出書類で、「判決は投資家への損害賠償の最大化を確実にし、Terraformを完全に終了させることになる」と述べています。
重要性：Terraform LabsとDo Kwonに対する訴訟は2年以上にわたって続いていました。2024年4月に、アメリカ合衆国地方裁判所が、TerraUSD（CRYPTO：UST）の驚異的な崩壊と準備通貨LUNAが投資家を欺いたと判断しました。この事件は1週間で400億ドル以上の時価総額を抹消し、暗号通貨の熊市を引き起こしました。
同じ月に、Jump Tradingの元従業員が証言し、Jump TradingがUSTの価格操作にTerraform Labsと共謀したことを明らかにしました。
価格アクション：執筆時点で、LUNAは0.5476ドルで取引され、Benzinga Proのデータによると、過去24時間で0.34％上昇しました。姉妹トークンのTerra Classic（CRYPTO：LUNC）は、過去24時間で2.23％上昇しました。
写真提供：シャッターストック
免責事項:写真提供：Nvidia
