Do Kwon denies prosecutors froze $67 million of his cryptocurrency assets

Do Kwon, the co-founder of collapsed cryptocurrency operator Terraform Labs, has denied that South Korean prosecutors froze another $39.6 million of his cryptocurrency assets when South Korean authorities began proceedings to revoke his passport.

Seoul’s South District Prosecutor’s Office said on Thursday that Kwon’s Bitcoin holdings totaling $67 million held on exchanges OKX and KuCoin have now been frozen.

Prosecutors have launched an international manhunt for the 31-year-old crypto entrepreneur behind the $40 billion terraUSD and Luna token implosion.

“I don’t understand the motivation for spreading this untruth – flexing your muscles? But why,” Kwon wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “I don’t know whose money they froze, but good for them, I hope they use it for good.”

His denial comes after CryptoQuant, a blockchain data analytics platform, said last month that the Luna Foundation Guard — a non-profit founded in Singapore to help terraUSD grow — launched a digital wallet on the crypto exchange on Sept. 15 Binance had created.

CryptoQuant added that 3,313 bitcoin worth about $67 million were transferred from this Luna wallet to KuCoin and OKX in three days.

Last month, South Korean prosecutors froze about $27.4 million in Bitcoin held in the KuCoin wallet. OKX recently accepted authorities’ demands to freeze an additional $39.6 million.

But prosecutors declined to say how they determined the assets belonged to Kwon, who denied the assets belonged to him.

I don’t understand the motivation for spreading this untruth – flexing muscles? But what for?

Again, I don’t even use Kucoin and OkEx, don’t have time to trade, no funds have been frozen.

I don’t know whose money they froze but good for them I hope they use it for good 🙏 https://t.co/gSucKfqsxj

– Mach Kwon 🌕 (@stablekwon) October 5, 2022

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Kwon’s passport would be revoked if he didn’t return it within two weeks, and put pressure on the fugitive crypto entrepreneur to return to South Korea where he faces charges of financial fraud and violating the country’s capital markets laws to become.

Interpol has issued a Red Notice for Kwon after he allegedly refused to cooperate with a South Korean investigation into the meltdown of its algorithmic coins. Kwon has yet to be located but has denied he is on the run. He could not be reached for comment.

South Korean prosecutors said Kwon left for Singapore in late April. City-state police said last month that he was no longer there.

South Korea has been one of the most enthusiastic adopters of cryptocurrencies, but the collapse of Terraform Labs has prompted scrutiny of the largely unregulated sector.

Crypto experts said investment in digital assets has slowed. “Venture Capital has trimmed its investments in the sector as the macro environment deteriorates amid high inflation and Bitcoin prices continue to fall,” said Donghwan Kim of Blitz Labs, a Seoul-based crypto consulting firm.

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