Terra Luna's Do Kwon Pleads Not Guilty in US Court

Terra Luna's Do Kwon Pleads Not Guilty in US Court

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon pleaded not guilty to charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in a US federal court on Jan. 2, 2025. The updated indictment also includes a new count of money laundering conspiracy, bringing the total charges to seven.

Prosecutors allege Kwon manipulated TerraUSD’s value in 2021 by secretly enlisting a trading firm to artificially stabilize its price. His actions allegedly contributed to the valuation of Terraform Labs’ products reaching $50 billion before the Terra-Luna collapse in 2022.

This is Kwon’s first appearance in a US court following his extradition from Montenegro, where he had served time for document forgery. Despite settling with the SEC in 2024 by paying an $80 million fine and agreeing to a lifetime crypto transaction ban, Kwon continues to deny all allegations.

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Spot Ether ETFs Record $2 Billion in December Inflows

Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded net inflows of $2.08 billion in December 2024, setting a new monthly high. BlackRock’s ETHA fund led with $1.4 billion, followed by Fidelity’s FETH with $752 million, while Grayscale’s ETHE saw outflows of $274 million. The total cumulative net inflow now exceeds $2.6 billion, with net assets reaching $12.12 billion, or over 3% of all ETH.

December’s inflows coincided with Ethereum’s price temporarily surpassing $4,000 before stabilizing around $3,409. Analysts attribute the surge to renewed interest in DeFi and AI applications within the Ethereum ecosystem. Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETFs reported $4.5 billion in inflows for the same period, showcasing sustained institutional interest.

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Pump.fun Transfers Over $300 Million in SOL to Kraken

Pump.fun, transferred 292,437 SOL worth $55.5 million to Kraken on Jan. 1, its first large transaction in nearly a month. The New Year’s deposits increased its total SOL transfers to Kraken to 1,564,064 SOL, valued at $316.5 million. Onchain analytics show that Pump.fun sold 264,373 SOL for 41.6 million USDC as part of its recent activities.

However, metrics indicate a decline in platform activity, with daily trading volume and revenue falling since November 2024. Solana’s real economic value and transaction fees have also experienced considerable recessions. Interestingly, Chainalysis expanded its Solana analytics coverage in December to monitor the market impacts of meme coins created using Pump.fun.

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Uniswap Teases v4 Launch After Previous Delays

Uniswap Labs hinted at the impending release of its latest iteration, Uniswap v4, with a social media post on Jan. 2, 2025, stating “v4 is coming soon.” The announcement follows delays, as v4 was initially scheduled for Q3 2024 but remained in testing throughout the year. The upgrade promises significant architectural changes, including features like Hooks, dynamic fees, and gas savings.

A $15.5 million bug bounty program launched in November 2024 aims to ensure security for the new core smart contracts. Uniswap v4 will build upon the innovations of v3, which introduced concentrated liquidity in 2021. The decentralized exchange remains the largest by trading volume, recording $106 billion in December.

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Data of the Day

Tether’s USDT suffered a 1.1% drop in market capitalization this week, its sharpest decline since the 2022 FTX crash, now standing at $137.24 billion. The decrease follows delistings by European exchanges and Coinbase over compliance concerns with the EU’s MiCA regulations.

Despite these challenges, analysts note that 80% of USDT’s trading volume originates from Asia, minimizing the broader market impact. Tether remains the leading stablecoin, supported by its extensive use in global crypto trading and derivatives.

The company has taken steps to ensure regulatory compliance by investing in MiCA-aligned firms like StablR and Quantoz Payments. Critics argue that MiCA’s stringent requirements may hinder the EU’s crypto innovation, with limited repercussions for Tether’s dominance.

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More Breaking News

• Celsius filed an appeal against a court order rejecting its $444M claim against FTX, focusing on alleged preferential transfers and procedural shortcomings.
• Tron’s T3 Financial Crime Fighting Unit froze $100M in illicit USDT, targeting scams, laundering, and hacks across over $3B in transactions since September.
• Binance became the first crypto exchange to secure a broker-dealer license in Brazil, marking its 21st global regulatory authorization.
• KuCoin launched KuCoin Pay, a point-of-sale crypto payment system allowing merchants to accept 54 cryptocurrencies via QR codes or its app.
• Kekius Maximus meme coin plummeted after Elon Musk reverted his X profile name, erasing major gains made during his New Year’s name change.
• An anonymous whale gained $11.5M in unrealized profits on a $10M Virtuals Protocol token investment within 19 days, reflecting AI token market growth.

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