Do Kwon was ultimately sentenced to 15 years in prison.

This outcome exceeded the 12-year prosecution request and was far beyond the 5-year sentence he personally pleaded for. Behind the numbers lies a clear condemnation from the US judicial system regarding the algorithmic stablecoin collapse incident.

It's not a technical experiment failure, nor market volatility—that's deliberate fraud.

Terra/Luna, once lauded as the "algorithmic stablecoin myth," is now permanently blacklisted in industry history.

# Why such a heavy sentence?

The judge was frank in the verdict statement:

"He chose to lie and made disastrous decisions."
"The damages caused exceed $40 billion."

What magnitude is $40 billion?

- Larger than the on-paper assets before the FTX collapse
- Surpasses the total losses from global crypto hacking attacks in 2022-2023
- Equivalent to 60% of a certain East Asian country's annual education expenditure
- Considered one of the most devastating single events in retail investor history

But what truly prompted the court to impose a harsh sentence was not just the amount.

It was that Terra was built on systemic deception from the very beginning.

# The true face of the scam

Looking back, Terra's collapse was no accident. Its "algorithmic stable" myth was built on a series of carefully crafted lies:

**Fictitious user data**
The usage of Chai payment app was greatly exaggerated to create the illusion of widespread real-world adoption.

**Boasting technical reliability**
Repeated claims that "the algorithm ensures it will never de-peg," despite internal knowledge that this logic was fundamentally flawed.

**Hiding protocol control**
The actual control of Mirror Protocol was deliberately concealed; investors had no idea who was behind the operation.

**Subsidies disguised as returns**
Anchor Protocol's high annualized yield of 20% was maintained mainly through subsidies, not genuine profit models.

**Turning a blind eye to market manipulation**
Internal teams completely ignored abnormal trading behaviors and potential market manipulations.

This was not a failure of innovation; it was premeditated fraud.

The 15-year sentence serves as a warning to the entire industry: those projects that hide behind banners of "decentralization" and "algorithmic innovation," but are actually running Ponzi schemes, will not be met with excuses but with imprisonment.