History of Crypto: Crippling inflation, rising debt, and the evolving crypto landscape

April 16, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Montenegro Court Revokes Earlier Decision To Extradite Do Kwon to US, Citing Procedural Violations

March 7, 2024 The Daily Hodl

Stablecoin dominance slides as market cap falls to near 2-year lows: CCData

July 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

After 16 consecutive months of decline, the stablecoin market dominance has fallen to 10.3% of the total crypto market capitalization.

The market capitalization of stablecoins has hit the lowest level since August 2021 coming on the back of 16 consecutive months of decline, a new report says.

Cryptocurrency analytics platform CCData released a report on July 20 saying the stablecoin market cap fell 0.82% from the start of the month until July 17, taking the sector's market cap to $127 billion.

Stablecoin market dominance took a slight fall and is currently at 10.3%, dropping from 10.5% in June.

Our latest Stablecoins & CBDCs Report is now live!

Key Highlights:
✔️16-month fall in stablecoin market cap, now at $127bn
✔️ $USDT at $0.73, $USDC at $0.82 on #Binance.US
✔️ $USDP's largest cap drop since 2020, now at $593mn

Full Report https://t.co/A9rFx6pbJx
— CCData (@CCData_io) July 20, 2023

Of the top ten stablecoins, Pax Dollar (USDP) was hit hardest, falling 43.1% to $563 million in July — its lowest figure since December 2020.

CCData believes the fall was largely attributed to MakerDAO — a decentralized autonomous organization behind the Maker protocol — which elected to remove $500 million of USDP from its reserves because it failed to accrue additional revenue.

Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin by market cap, managed to record its all-time high market cap of $83.8 billion as of July 17, increasing its stablecoin market cap dominance to 65.9%.

The market cap of USD Coin (USDC) and Binance USD (BUSD) fell 3.01% and 4.57% to $26.9 billion and $3.96 billion, respectively. For USDC, it is the seventh consecutive month of decline in its market cap and the lowest since June 2021.

*Most stablecoins market caps have remained relatively stable since May, except for USDP which has fallen 43.1%. Source: CCData.*

Despite consecutive falls, stablecoin trading volumes increased 16.6% to about $483 billion in June, recording the first monthly increase since March.

CCData believes the lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the surge in spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund filings contributed to the increase in stablecoin trading volumes last month.

Another major event in June was the suspension of fiat deposits on Binance.US due to the SEC’s lawsuit against the firm. CCData said this led USDT and USDC to depeg from the U.S. dollar on the exchange.

“The suspension of fiat deposits has led to a drastic decline in the liquidity of the [USDT and USDC] stablecoins, resulting in a discount of around 27% and 18% respectively.”

The decentralized stablecoin market, which includes Dai (DAI), Frax (FRAX) and USDD (USDD) increased its market cap by 0.43% to $7.52 billion in July — the first positive month since February. The market cap, however, is still 78.1% down from its all-time high of $34.3 billion in April.

The beginning of this downward trend was triggered by the collapse of the Terra Luna ecosystem and the near 100% depeg of the algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD (USTC).

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Do Kwon denies forging passport, blames ‘Chinese’ agency: Report

June 19, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Do Kwon has denied forging travel documentation and refuted having any financial ties to Europe Now party leader Milojko Spajić.

Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon told a Montenegro court that he wasn’t aware the passport he was traveling with was allegedly forged and instead pinned the blame on a Chinese-named agency.

In a June 17 report from South Korean news outlet Segye Ilbo, Kwon told the Montenegrin Basic Court he received his allegedly forged passports and travel documentation, including a Costa Rican passport, through third-party “agencies.”

“I received my Costa Rica passport after filling in the documents required by a Singaporean agency that was recommended to me by a friend. I received my Belgian passport through another agency.”

According to Kwon, because he'd been traveling with his Costa Rican passport “for years” he had no reason to doubt its authenticity.

The prosecution pressed Kwon for further details on the agency he used for his passports, but Kwon said he couldn’t “remember exactly,” adding he only knew the agency’s name was “in Chinese.”

Kwon was questioned alongside his colleague and former Terraform Labs chief financial officer Han Chong-joon.

In addition to denying forgery of travel documentation, Kwon denied allegations he made any financial donations to Montenegro’s former finance minister Milojko Spajić, the now-leader of the Europe Now party.

According to a June 17 report from a regional arm of Radio Free Europe, Kwon allegedly made contact with Spajić in a letter he sent to several Montenegrin officials in the days before the latest round of elections in the country.

“This is categorically denied and it is not true," said Kwon’s lawyers.

Spajić denied having ties to Kwon but their rumored financial connections were covered heavily by various news outlets in Montenegro.

Korean media reports that for years, Do Kwon had secretly been sponsoring a prominent Montenegrin politician using illegal funds. Two days ago, a Montenegro high court approved Do Kwon's bail request again, allowing for his release from prison. https://t.co/aNqYkKG70H
— FatMan (@FatManTerra) June 9, 2023

Following the hearing, Judge Ivana Becić announced she will issue a verdict on the forgery charges onJune 19 local time. Kwon will be held in extradition custody for up to six months, while the local court considers South Korea’s extradition request.

Kwon and Chong-Joon were arrested by local authorities on March 23 after being accused of falsifying passports that were used in an attempt to leave Montenegro on a private flight to Dubai.

Lawyers for the pair initially received approval for the proposed bail of $436,000 (400,000 euro) but that decision was reversed on appeal on May 24. On June 5, this appeal was dismissed and bail was granted for Kwon and Chong-joon. The pair will be closely monitored by local police and if either leave their residence or violate the approved conditions, their bail will be forfeited.

Terraform Labs’ Terra ecosystem collapsed in May 2022 leading to losses estimated at up to $40 billion.

Magazine: South Korea’s unique and amazing crypto universe

Breaking: Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon reportedly arrested in Montenegro

March 23, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The former blockchain executive is wanted by Interpol for his role in the $40 billion collapse of the Terra Luna ecosystem during May 2022.

According to a post from Filip Adzic, minister of the interior of Montenegro, an individual suspected of being Terra Luna co-founder Do Kwon has been arrested within the territory of the Balkan nation on Mar. 23. Since the announcement was first made, local news outlet Vijesti has confirmed that the Twitter account that made the announcement is from the minister of the interior of Montenegro and that the individual arrested was a South Korean national.

"Montenegrin police have detained a person suspected of being one of the most wanted fugitives, South Korean citizen Do Kwon, co-founder and CEO of Singapore-based Terraform Labs."

As told by Adzic, an individual suspected of being the former "cryptocurrency king" was detained at the Podgorica airport with "falsified documents," and authorities are awaiting official confirmation of identity. Montenegro is geographically south of Serbia and shares borders with the country. Since Dec. 2022, South Korean prosecutors have alleged that Kwon was hiding in Serbia, where no extradition agreement exists with South Korea. On Sept. 26, 2022, an Interpol red notice was issued for the arrest of Kwon for his alleged role in the collapse of the $40 billion Terra Luna (LUNC) and Terra USD (USTC) ecosystem in May 2022. He is also wanted by regulatory authorities in South Korea, Singapore, and the U.S.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated accordingly.

1 year after $11M LUNC bets; Do Kwon wanted, funds paid, hedge stuck on FTX

March 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

1 year after M LUNC bets; Do Kwon wanted, funds paid, hedge stuck on FTX

Coin Telegraph

Terra Luna's former co-founder, Do Kwon, who lost $11 million in the bet, is currently wanted by Interpol and is reportedly hiding in Serbia.

Approximately one year prior, on Mar. 14, 2022, cryptocurrency trader GiganticRebirth (GCR) invited the then co-founder of CEO of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, in a $10 million bet that the price of Terra Luna (LUNC) would be lower than its then price of $92.4 per token one year later. The blockchain executive accepted the offer, the second in the series after the day prior, when cryptocurrency trader Algod offered a $1 million bet that LUNC would be lower than $88 per token on Mar. 13, 2023, to which Kwon also accepted, resulting in two bets worth $11 million and prize money pool of $22 million .

The funds, which totaled $22 million from all participants, were held in escrow by blockchain personality Cobie on their Ethereum address. Cobie claimed at the time, a hot wallet was given to participants "on my mobile phone while i was in the middle of africa, when i woke up there was $22m deposited."

"i didn't want 22m on a mobile tent while I was living in a tent amongst lions lmao."

As told by Cobie and substantiated by blockchain data, the blockchain personality paid out the bets from the hot wallet in April 2022, shortly after the $40 billion LUNC and accompanying algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD (USTC) ecosystem imploded, with LUNC trading at fractional decimal values close to zero. However, Cobie also stated in Dec. 2022:

"I actually paid out the bet shortly after Luna went to 0, and then bought enough Luna to hedge in case it somehow went back to $88. But I lost my hedge (custodied in FTX) so if Luna goes to $88 in the next 3 months I am fucked"

As the bet was active until mid-March of 2023, Cobie was required to hold collateral despite LUNC's collapse, as the funds were paid out early, and conditions could differ at settlement. At the time of publication, LUNC is currently trading at $0.000124 per token.

Last Nov. 2022, cryptocurrency exchange FTX, then third-largest in the world by volume, filed for bankruptcy over allegations of misappropriating users' funds and left the deposits of over 1 million creditors frozen. On Apr. 4, 2022, Cobie transferred the prize money and principal, worth $22 million in stablecoins, to winners GCR and Algod via FTX. The subsequent flow of funds is unclear.

On Sept. 26, 2022, Interpol issued a red notice arrest warrant for Do Kwon per the request of South Korean prosecutors over accusations of fraud relating to Terra Luna's collapse. The former blockchain executive is reportedly hiding in Serbia, which does not have an extradition agreement with South Korea. Aside from being out $11 million from the bets, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice reportedly began probing Terra Luna's collapse on Mar. 14, 2023. One month prior, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Terraform Labs and former CEO Do Kwon with "defrauding investors in crypto schemes."

A one year anniversary since my $1mn dollar bet with @stablekwon

while it's in hindsight easy to say Luna would collapse as you can see in the comments i was ridiculed as redacted

the masses are often wrong, was a great lesson https://t.co/Elp9ZMGBTc
— Algod (@AlgodTrading) March 14, 2023

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South Korean prosecutors apply to revoke Do Kwon and other Terra employees’ passports

September 15, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Singapore, where Terra co-founder Do Kwon is currently staying, does not have an extradition treaty with South Korea.

According to local news outlet gynews.kr, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office's Joint Financial Securities Crime Investigation Team says it will be contacting the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to nullify the passports of Terra Luna co-founder Do Kwon and five other project developers. Prosecutors also plan to contact Interpol and escalate the South Korean arrest warrant issued the day prior into an international arrest warrant.

All Terra Luna members named in the warrant reside in Singapore, a country that does not have an extradition treaty with South Korea. Targeted individuals on the warrant include Mo Han and Mo Yu, both of whom are Terra Luna employees staying with Do Kwon in Singapore. Another named individual is Greek national Nicholas Platias, a founding member of Terraform Labs.

Since the collapse of the Terra Classic (LUNC) token — formerly known as Terra (LUNA) — and algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD (USTC) in May, police have raided 15 locations of interest, including cryptocurrency exchanges and corporate offices linked to the matter. The charge involves Terra employees, including Do Kwon, alleging the violation of the country's Capital Markets Act, in which prosecutors consider Terra Luna ecosystem tokens to be "investment security contracts."

As told by South Korean prosecutors, Do Kwon allegedly continued to issue LUNA and USTC without notifying investors of the danger that the price of both could plummet together, amounting to fraud. They pointed to statements made by Do Kwon, such as "If I deposit Terra in Terraform Labs, I will pay an interest of 19.4%," as evidence that Do Kwon had prior knowledge that investments in the Terra ecosystem were unstainable, and yet continued to act similarly to attract additional capital.

The subsequent fallout of Terra Luna has caused ripple effects in ecosystem projects. One such protocol, Apollo DAO, was forced to close its Terra vaults Wednes. The project's total value locked surpassed over $200 million last year and has now fallen to near-zero levels at the time of publication.

terra (LUNA)