Crypto Investor Arrested After Visiting Home Of TerraUSD Founder

A South Korean crypto investor has been arrested after visiting the Seoul home of Do Kwon, creator of the TerraUSD “stablecoin” that abruptly collapsed two weeks ago.

“Chancers”, a social media personality who conducts streams on cryptocurrency-related topics, is currently under investigation by police after ringing the doorbell of Kwon’s condominium and speaking with his wife.

He expressed regret for the intrusion, according to local media, but called for Kwon to appear in public and apologise to investors.

“I hope that the problem of the more than 200,000 victims who suffered the coin crash is resolved,” he said.

Arrest

Chancers, who said he lost up to 3 billion won (£1.9m) in the crash, said he came across Kwon’s home address on the internet.

He visited Kwon’s home on Thursday, 12 May, livestreaming the visit to about 100 people via South Korea’s AfreecaTV streaming platform.

Kwon’s wife then telephoned police to ask for emergency protection.

After seeing media reports the following day that the police were looking for him, Chancers voluntarily surrendered himself at a police station in Seoul on the morning of Friday 13 May.

Chancers says he became wealthy over the past five years as the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rose, but lost much of his wealth when TerraUSD and its companion coin, Luna, crashed earlier this month.

Crypto analysts have estimated that about $80bn (£63bn) in market capitalisation was wiped out in the crash, including the $20bn market capitalisation of Luna that supported a $60bn ecosystem.

Criminal investigation

The reclusive Kwon, whose company Terraform Labs is registered in Singapore, has since been compared to Elizabeth Holmes, found guilty in January of defrauding investors in her company Theranos.

It is estimated that nearly 250,000 people had invested in Terraform Labs’ coins.

Kwon says neither he nor his company made money on the crash.

On Friday local media reported that South Korea’s Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team was investigating Terraform Labs and the coins’ collapse.

More than 1,600 investors have signed up for a class-action lawsuit against Kwon with two domestic law firms, LKB & Partners LLC and Kisung LLC.

Kwon, known for his caustic remarks about detractors, told a YouTube crypto channel a week before the demise of TerraUSD, “95 percent [of coins] are going to die – but there’s also entertainment in watching companies die too.”

Just before the implosion he told followers on Twitter, “I love chaos.”

But on 13 May he tweeted, “I am heartbroken about the pain my invention has brought on all of you.”