Report: Korean authorities orders freeze of $67M of Bitcoin tied to Do Kwon

Published at: Sept. 27, 2022

South Korean authorities have requested crypto exchange OKX and Kucoin to freeze 3,313 Bitcoin (BTC) reportedly tied to Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terra blockchain developer Terraform Labs.

Kwon, who is currently on the run from the Korean authorities in the securities violation case, reportedly created a new wallet on Sept. 15, just a day after a Korean court issued an arrest warrant against the fugitive crypto founder.

According to the crypto analytic group Cryptoquant, a new BTC wallet was created under the name of Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), and a total of 3,313 BTC was then transferred to the KuCoin and OKX exchange.

KuCoin received a total of 1,354 BTC, which were frozen immediately after the transfer, while OKX has reportedly ignored authorities' requests. Thus, a total of 1,959 BTC couldn’t be frozen and could have been moved to other platforms.

Cointelegraph reached out to both crypto exchanges for confirmation but didn’t get a response at press time.

The movement of BTC from the LFG wallet raised many eyebrows as it contradicts Kwon‘s early claims of using all the BTC in LFG reserves to defend the TerraUSD Classic (USTC) peg. 

Related: Terra co-founder Do Kwon says he’s ‘making zero effort to hide’ following Interpol notice

Prior to the issuing of an arrest warrant on Sept. 14, Kwon claimed that he is neither under investigation nor has he been contacted by any authorities, despite numerous reports of several investigations in South Korea. However, right after an arrest warrant was released, Kwon reportedly fled Singapore, forcing authorities to seek help from Interpol.

On Sept. 26, Interpol issued a red notice against Kwon, confirming his fugitive status. However, despite all the evidence and an international notice against him, Kwon continues to tweet every now and then, claiming otherwise.

For something that has notice in the name it sure gives no notice Tried to search it here, found nothing: https://t.co/SuX3aIu6r6

— Do Kwon (@stablekwon) September 26, 2022

The $40 billion Terra ecosystem collapse led to a crypto market rout that wiped out nearly a trillion dollars from the crypto market. Even after such mayhem, Kwon continued to garner support from some sections of the community as he claimed innocence and maintained he has lost everything in the collapse.

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Blockchain
Bitcoin
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South Korea
Terra
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