LFG Audit Claims Do Kwon Didn’t Steal Terra Funds—but Can It Be Trusted?

The audit asserts that the Luna Basis Guard spent roughly $2.8 billion to defend UST’s peg. 

LFG Releases Audit

The Luna Basis Guard is attempting to clear its title. 

The Terra-linked group, established in January to guard the greenback peg of the now-defunct TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin, has released a third-party audit performed by accounting agency JS Held. The audit claims that LFG spent all of its money and Bitcoin reserves in its try and defend UST’s peg between Might 8 and Might 16, 2022, contrasting widespread hypothesis that Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon had embezzled a portion of LFG’s funds throughout UST’s collapse. 

In response to the report, LFG spent roughly $2.8 billion, comprising 80,081 Bitcoin and $49.8 million in stablecoins, to defend UST’s peg, as LFG claimed on Twitter on Might 16. Moreover, the audit states that Terraform Labs spent an additional $613 million of its personal capital to defend the algorithmic stablecoin’s peg. 

UST was an algorithmic stablecoin developed and issued by Terraform Labs. It rose to recognition because of the outsized 20% yield holders might earn by depositing it into Terraform Labs’ Anchor Protocol. Nevertheless, in contrast to reserve-backed stablecoins akin to USDC or BUSD, UST was pegged to the greenback algorithmically. When market forces knocked UST off its peg on Might 8, there was not sufficient collateral in reserve to shore up its worth, inflicting it to enter a demise spiral, erasing over $40 billion in worth from the crypto market. Kwon has been extensively criticized for the unsustainability of UST’s peg mechanism and his irresponsible promotion of the stablecoin as a “risk-free” asset. 

Within the announcement of its third-party audit, LFG asserts the report reveals all its funds have been spent to defend UST’s greenback peg as declared and that its remaining balances are the one funds remaining. It additionally argues that the audit proves no LFG funds have been embezzled, misused, or frozen by regulation enforcement.

Is Anybody Satisfied?

In September, South Korean prosecutors issued a request to freeze belongings deposited to centralized exchanges that have been believed to be related to the Luna Basis Guard. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Workplace has claimed that LFG moved funds to KuCoin and OKX on September 15, a day after a Seoul court docket issued a warrant for Kwon’s arrest. Crypto analysis agency CryptoQuant and OXT Analysis member Ergo BTC have additionally claimed that the funds got here from LFG. Up to now, KuCoin has reportedly agreed to the prosecutor’s request and frozen the supposed LFG belongings, however OKX has stayed silent. 

If these claims are to be believed, it will imply an unidentified entity related in a roundabout way with Do Kwon and Terra has its arms on over $140 million in Bitcoin. Whereas prosecutors constructing a case towards Kwon appear to consider these funds are related, not everyone seems to be satisfied as there is no such thing as a strong proof that Kwon, Terraform Labs, or LFG have any management over these cash.

In an October 5 tweet, Kwon denied the allegations that he had embezzled funds. “I don’t even use Kucoin and OkEx, haven’t any time to commerce, no funds have been frozen,” he mentioned. “I don’t know whose funds they’ve frozen, however good for them, hope they use it for good.”

Nevertheless, if Kwon is telling the reality and the $140 million value of Bitcoin doesn’t belong to him, KuCoin would probably obtain complaints from a big whale for unjustly freezing their funds. As nobody has come ahead, it appears all of the extra probably that Kwon might be protecting up his or LFG’s involvement. 

Nonetheless, JS Held, the LFG’s third-party auditor, seems to be a good firm. It’s unlikely that it will put its popularity on the road to cowl up criminality or embezzlement of funds. Whereas it’s trying more and more probably that the $140 million in query isn’t related to Kwon or Terraform Labs, the Terra group could also be more durable to persuade. The complete fact of the state of affairs could not come out till Kwon faces trial—if he ever does. Kwon has reportedly fled Singapore for Europe however maintains that he’s not on the run. Both method, even when the audit is reputable, it appears unlikely that Kwon will achieve successful again the crypto group’s belief anytime quickly. 

Disclosure: On the time of penning this piece, the creator owned ETH, BTC, and a number of other different crypto belongings.