Crypto's Most Wanted: Terra Co-Founder Arrested, Partner Indicted, Billions Frozen

South Korean authorities have brought charges against Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, and nine other individuals for various offenses, including breaches of capital market regulations.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office announced that it has so far frozen 246.8 billion won ($184.7 million) in assets belonging to the accused during a press conference on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.

In an intensified effort to apprehend and detain Shin, a fintech entrepreneur who played a key role in establishing Terra, the prosecution has focused on the crypto project's $60-billion loss last year.

In the previous month, Do Kwon, Shin's co-founder, was taken into custody in Montenegro on allegations of fraud and violation of capital markets law.

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Kwon, a South Korean national, is also sought by the United States.

The core issue in this case revolves around the collapse of TerraUSD, an algorithmic stablecoin, and its counterpart, Luna LUNA/USD.

Their downfall in May of last year sparked a wider $2-trillion downturn in the cryptocurrency market.

Shin's legal representatives have previously asserted that he separated from the company in 2020 and has not participated in its operations since then.

Prior to this, prosecutors had requested an arrest warrant for Shin, but a South Korean court denied it in December, arguing that he was unlikely to tamper with evidence or become a flight risk.

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