‘Terraform Labs Sale Profit 80 Billion’ Shin Hyun-sung Faces Detention Decision... Appears for Warrant Hearing

From 10:30 AM on the 2nd, the detention hearing
Remained 'silent' on questions from reporters about admission of charges

Shin Hyun-sung, the Chief Executive Officer of Chai Corporation, who is accused of violating the Capital Markets Act in connection with the Terra and Luna crash incident, appeared at the Seoul Southern District Court at 10:17 a.m. on the 2nd for a warrant hearing. Photo by Yoo Byung-don tamond@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Shin Hyun-sung, the Chief Executive Officer of Chai Corporation, who is accused of violating the Capital Markets Act and other charges related to the Terra and Luna crash incident, is facing detention.

At 10:30 a.m. on the 2nd, Hong Young-pyo, the presiding judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Southern District Court, will conduct a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) for Shin and seven other Terraform Labs officials suspected of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud and breach of trust) and the Capital Markets Act.

Shin arrived at the court around 10:17 a.m. that day and entered without responding to reporters' questions about whether he admits the charges or has anything to say to the victims.

Earlier, on the 30th of last month, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Joint Investigation Team on Financial Securities Crimes (Chief Dan Sung-han) and the Financial Investigation Division 2 (Chief Prosecutor Chae Hee-man) requested arrest warrants for Shin and seven others.

Among them, four, including Shin, were early investors in Terra and Luna, while the other four were known to be key personnel in the technology development of Terra and Luna.

Shin co-founded Terraform Labs with CEO Kwon Do-hyung. The prosecution believes that Kwon, Shin, and others ignored internal warnings about the risk of simultaneous collapse of Terra and Luna and proceeded with issuance.

They also judged that Terraform Labs used funds to buy Terra and Luna and inflated trading volumes to lure general investors. The prosecution estimates that the profits gained by the eight related parties, including Shin, range from a minimum of 1 billion KRW to a maximum of 80 billion KRW, with Shin reportedly earning profits in the 140 billion KRW range.

Additionally, Shin is accused of leaking customer information held by Chai Corporation to separate entities such as Terraform Labs.

In response, Shin's side maintains that he has not been involved in Terraform Labs' management since 2020 and that he only steadily liquidated his remaining holdings, denying that he earned 140 billion KRW in profits.

Shin's defense attorney also argued, "It is difficult to accept the criminalization of attempts to lower payment fees by utilizing innovative blockchain technology while complying with all obligations as an electronic financial business operator, after a thorough review by a reputable large law firm."

He added, "They actually implemented a plan to provide benefits to customers and merchants by purchasing KRT (seigniorage) corresponding to the increase in Chai payment amounts using blockchain technology and explained the specific method to external investors and others as is."

Meanwhile, the results of the warrant substantive examination for Shin and others are expected to be announced as early as the afternoon of the same day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.