Do Kwon, Luna Foundation Guard Deny Link to $62M in Bitcoin Sought by Authorities

The Terra saga yet adds another chapter this week. 

South Korean authorities are seeking to freeze more than $60 million worth of Bitcoin linked to Terra co-founder Do Kwon, several outlets reported.

The request was reportedly lodged with crypto exchanges OKX and KuCoin, in relation to some 3,313 Bitcoin, worth around $62 million at current prices.

But Kwon, who was hit with an Interpol red notice for his arrest this week over his role in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, said on Twitter that the report was “misinformation” and claimed he hadn’t used either of the named platforms “in at least the last year.”

Although prosecutors declined to say why they believe the bitcoin is linked to Kwon, research from analytics platform CryptoQuant has suggested that the funds were transferred by the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) on September 15, the day after a Korean court issued an arrest warrant for Kwon.

LFG is a Singapore-based organization erected to support the growth of the Terra ecosystem. Its members include Terra co-founder Do Kwon, Terra’s head of research Nicholas Platias, co-founder of media outlet Real Vision Remi Tetot, Delphi Digital partner José Maria Macedo, and Jump Crypto president Kanav Kariya

LFG also took to Twitter to deny creating any new wallets or moving any crypto since May.

The organization also posted the address of its Bitcoin wallet, to which CryptoQuant replied, “That’s the public one,” implying there is at least one other private wallet.

In response to suspicions around the timing of the alleged transfer, Kwon denied that there had ever been an attempted “cashout.”

Decrypt has contacted South Korean prosecutors and CryptoQuant for comment.

‘Making zero effort to hide’: Terra co-founder

Despite both the Korean arrest warrant and the Interpol notice against him, Kwon has claimed he is “not ‘on the run’ or anything similar.”

Authorities had believed the beleaguered founder to be in Singapore, but local police said earlier this month that he was not there. Officials have sought to void his passport.

In further interactions with Twitter users asking where he is, Kwon claimed he is “coding in my living room” and that he regularly goes for walks and to the mall, making “zero effort to hide.”

The collapse of the Terra ecosystem (both LUNA and algorithmic stablecoin UST) came amid a massive crypto selloff, leading to the collapse of several other firms in the industry.