This week in the crypto world we saw Craig Wright giving up a five-year legal battle, the SEC take on Uniswap, and Do Kwon found guilty of fraud over the collapse of Terra.
Do Kwon Guilty in Terra Case
Not technically this week but it came in too late for last week’s top three, Do Kwon and the company he co-founded, Terraform Labs, were both found liable for the collapse of the Terra ecosystem and several charges related to it.
A Manhattan jury found the pair liable on civil fraud charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with the $40 billion implosion of the ecosystem in May 2022, with the jury taking just two hours to come to its verdict.
Kwon was not present for any of the trial as he awaits a final decision on his extradition from Montenegro, and he now a fairly hefty bill for his work destroying so many people’s investments.
Uniswap “Ready to Fight” SEC
Uniswap this week revealed that it received a Wells Notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), suggesting that the agency is about to charge it with securities offenses.
The notice signifies an escalation in the battle between the SEC and projects in the crypto space, representing the first time that the agency has gone after a decentralized exchange in this manner.
Uniswap said it remained confident that the products it offers are “on the right side of the law” and that it was “ready to fight” as the crypto space gears up for another battle with its institutional overseers.
Craig Wright Drops Hodlonaut Appeal
Satoshi Nakamoto wannabe Craig Wright this week suffered another legal defeat after he dropped his appeal against Magnus Granath (aka Hodlonaut), leaving Granath as the outright victor in the libel case.
Wright lost to Granath in 2022 after the judge ruled that the Norwegian did not defame the Australian by calling him a fraud, a case which echoed an almost identical case Wright is still running in the UK.
With Wright dropping his appeal, however, it likely means the end for the UK case too, especially following Wright’s defeat to the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) last month.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
