Do Kwon's passport to be invalidated

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon / Courtesy of Kwon's LinkedIn page

By Lee Min-hyung

The passport of Do Kwon, co-founder of scandal-tainted stablecoin developer Terraform Labs, will be invalidated as of Oct. 19, which Korean prosecutors believe will help uncover his whereabouts.

Under the order, he will be forced to be deported to his home country as an unauthorized immigrant. Even if Kwon argued that he is not “on the run,” the founder of the Terra stablecoin and its sister token, Luna, has not disclosed where he is staying, leaving only some sarcastic comments about the ongoing investigation targeting him.

Earlier, Interpol issued a Red Notice for Kwon's arrest upon the request of Korea's investigative authorities. Kwon faces fraud charges related to the abrupt meltdown of two once-promising cryptocurrencies, which he has denied since the incident took place in May this year.

Investors' fury has escalated over the past few months, as Kwon has rarely made public appearances, nor did he take any sincere actions to make public any facts over the charges he faces by responding to investigators. This behavior is in contrast to his previous media-friendly actions. Before the Luna debacle, he appeared on overseas media outlets multiple times and shared his vision on the now-collapsed cryptocurrencies.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered Kwon to return his passport on Oct. 5. Under the relevant law, Kwon should return it within the next 14 days following the issuing of the order. If Kwon declines to do so, his passport will no longer be valid after the deadline.

The rapid meltdown of the Luna token surprised investors here and abroad, as it was once considered one of the world's most promising cryptocurrencies, the value of which reached more than 50 trillion won before it crashed.

He was one of the few Korean entrepreneurs to become a sensation in the global crypto industry. More than 200,000 local investors also went on a buying spree of the Luna coin, most of them losing all of their invested money in the end.

His specific whereabouts are still unknown. He was last seen for an overseas media interview in Singapore. After the country's authorities later confirmed that Kwon was no longer staying there, he has not made any public appearances, and is only communicating through Twitter.