A court filing from Judge Paul Engelmayer scheduled a Tuesday conference where Kwon could plead guilty, less than a year after being extradited from Montenegro and months after pleading not guilty to nine felony charges, including securities fraud, market manipulation, and money laundering. The potential plea follows months of negotiations between prosecutors and Kwon’s defense team. Meanwhile, Ethereum core developer Federico Carrone was released after a 24-hour detention in Turkey over alleged links to a privacy protocol, which he insists was purely academic research. His case once again amplified concerns about the criminalization of open-source privacy tools, as seen in the Tornado Cash prosecutions. Carrone has since donated $500,000 in ETH to support Roman Storm’s legal defense. Terraform’s Do Kwon May Alter Plea Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon could be on the verge of changing his plea in the high-profile criminal case against him in the United States. In a Monday filing with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Judge Paul Engelmayer scheduled a Tuesday court conference where Kwon “may enter a change of plea.” The move comes after the crypto entrepreneur pleaded not guilty in January to nine felony counts. Some of these counts include securities fraud, market manipulation, money laundering, and wire fraud. Order setting time for Kwon’s plea (Source: SDNY) Kwon’s legal troubles stem from his alleged role in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022, which wiped out roughly $40 billion in investor assets. After the crash, his whereabouts were unknown for months until he was arrested in Montenegro for trying to use falsified travel documents. Authorities in Montenegro then spent more than a year navigating competing extradition requests from the United States and South Korea, and ultimately handed him over to US officials in December of 2024. Since then, Kwon has been held without bail, and his trial is scheduled to begin in January of 2026. Judge Engelmayer’s order instructed that Kwon be prepared to give a “narrative allocution” in court — which is a detailed statement acknowledging all elements of the offense or offenses to which he may plead guilty. The judge also encouraged his legal counsel to assist in drafting an allocution that could be read in open court. While the specifics of any potential plea agreement have not been disclosed, filings indicate that SDNY prosecutors, led by interim US Attorney Jay Clayton, engaged in “ productive discussions ” with Kwon’s defense team for several months. Do Kwon The conference will take place less than a week after the same court found Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm guilty of operating an unlicensed money transmitting service. Terraform Labs itself previously settled with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024, and agreed to pay roughly $4.5 billion in disgorgement, civil penalties, and prejudgment interest. Overall, the outcome of Tuesday’s hearing could be a huge moment in Kwon’s long-running legal battle. Ethereum Dev Freed Meanwhile, Ethereum core developer Federico Carrone, who is known as “Fede’s Intern” on X, confirmed he was released after spending 24 hours in detention in Turkey over alleged links to an Ethereum privacy protocol. Carrone said that Turkey’s Minister of Internal Affairs accused him of “helping others misuse Ethereum,” which he believes stems from a January 2022 research paper he co-authored assessing privacy on Ethereum and Tornado Cash. He explained that the work was purely academic and did not facilitate illegal activity. The incident now adds to the growing concerns over the arrests of developers connected to open-source privacy tools, like Tornado Cash co-founders Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm, whose trial in New York could set a precedent for criminalizing such technologies and threatening privacy rights in decentralized finance. Carrone, who is now in Europe, described the initial situation as bleak, with officials planning to confiscate his phone and isolate him from outside contact. He credited his release to quick intervention from friends and supporters across the UAE, UK, US, Europe, Argentina, and even the Catholic Church, along with members of the Solana ecosystem who offered assistance and connections in Turkey. While the case is still active, Carrone’s legal team in Turkey is working on his defense, and he is willing to return to clear his name once matters are resolved. X post from Federico Carrone In a show of solidarity with others facing similar legal challenges, Carrone donated $500,000 worth of Ethereum to support Roman Storm’s legal defense, as he strongly believes in the importance of protecting developers who push innovation forward and ensuring they can rely on community support in times of legal jeopardy.
