Do Kwon, the crypto entrepreneur once seen as a rising star, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in a judgment that stunned many investors worldwide.
The punishment was announced in Manhattan on Thursday and marked a dramatic turning point in a case that reshaped the global crypto industry.
Moreover, the conviction added new weight to concerns about risky digital assets.
Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, was held responsible for a collapse that wiped out an estimated $40 billion in value.
Thousands of investors were affected, and many lost life savings.
However, the scale of the damage became even more visible as victims shared emotional accounts in court.
The moment has now been widely described as one of the most significant rulings in the Do Kwon sentencing case.
US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the harsh sentence after criticising Kwon for misleading people who trusted his promises.
“This was a fraud on an epic, generational scale,” the judge said. He added, “In the history of federal prosecutions, there are few frauds that have caused as much harm as you have, Mr. Kwon.”
In addition, the judge stressed that the disaster left long-term scars on families, workers, and charities.
Kwon, 34, pleaded guilty to deceiving investors about TerraUSD, a digital coin meant to stay stable even during market swings.
He appeared in court wearing yellow prison clothing and apologised to those who lost everything.
“All of their stories were harrowing and reminded me again of the great losses that I’ve caused. I want to tell these victims that I am sorry,” he said.
Victims submitted letters describing how their retirement plans, savings, and charitable funds were wiped out.
One victim wrote that he considered suicide after his father lost his retirement fund. Furthermore, several families said the damage would take years to rebuild.
Judge Engelmayer dismissed the government’s suggested 12-year sentence as “unreasonably lenient.”
Meanwhile, he rejected the defence’s request for a five-year term, calling it “utterly unthinkable and wildly unreasonable.” Kwon had faced a potential maximum sentence of 25 years.
