The so-called "Cryptocrash King" was behind the spectacular collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna cyber that wiped out more than US$40 billion in losses to investors in the U.S. and around the world.
"This was a fraud on an epic, generational scale. In the history of federal prosecutions, there are few frauds that have caused as much harm as you have," the court said.
Kwon apologized to his victims, saying, "All of their stories were harrowing and reminded me again of the great losses that I've caused. I want to tell these victims that I am sorry."
Thursday's sentencing is slightly higher than what was sought under part of a plea bargaining deal last August. At the time, the former entrepreneur of Singapore-based Terraform Labs, who faced a maximum penalty of 130 years in prison, admitted to charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud, with prosecutors agreeing not to seek a sentence longer than 12 years while confiscating around $26.5 billion and other assets.
U.S. authorities are also expected to allow him to serve the remainder of his prison term in South Korea under an international prisoner transfer program if he serves half of his sentence and abides by his plea deal. But there remains a chance that he could face separate charges here, if he eventually manages to return to Seoul.
Kwon was extradited to the U.S. from Montenegro in last December, where he was arrested in March 2023 while attempting to board a flight using several forged passports.
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