Prosecutors assure the court that a recent memo from the US Department of Justice will not impact Do Kwon’s ongoing trial, despite its implications on crypto enforcement priorities.
DOJ Crypto Enforcement Memo Has No Bearing on Do Kwon’s Criminal Case, Prosecutors Say.
Do Kwon is a South Korean computer science and engineering graduate, best known as the founder of Terraform Labs.
He is also the creator of the algorithmic stablecoin 'TerraUSD (UST)' and its sister coin LUNA.
Kwon's background includes working at companies such as Google and Microsoft before co-founding Terraform Labs in 2018.
His projects have been praised for their innovative approach to cryptocurrency, but they have also faced significant controversy and criticism.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent memo narrowing its crypto enforcement priorities will not affect the prosecution of Terraform Labs co-founder and former CEO ‘no plans’ to change their charges against Kwon , who faces two counts of commodities fraud, two counts of securities fraud, as well as five other charges including wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud.
The memo, sent by U.S. Deputy Attorney General ‘Todd Blanche’ , informed staff that the DOJ would no longer be pursuing prosecution against crypto exchanges, mixing services, or offline wallets for the acts of their end users. However, prosecutors noted that this change does not impact Kwon‘s case, which involves specific allegations of commodities and securities fraud.
Kwon‘s trial start date has been postponed to February 17, 2026, due to scheduling challenges. His lead attorney, ‘David Patton’ , suggested that the contents of Blanche’s memo could potentially be relevant to some pre-trial motions from his defense team.
In a separate civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Kwon and Terraform Labs last year, another SDNY judge found that the tokens involved in the case were securities. Prosecutors told Engelmayer that they will inform him well in advance of the trial if they plan to request that he adhere to any rulings or findings made by the court in the SEC case.
The next batch of pre-trial motions is expected to hit the docket in July, and a third status conference has been scheduled for June 12 at 11 a.m. in New York.
