Terra Co-Founder’s Binance Funds May Be Frozen After Prosecution Request – Will the Crypto Exchange Comply?

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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June 26, 2023 06:55 EDT

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South Korean authorities have confirmed that they have asked the crypto exchange Binance to freeze crypto belonging to the Terraform Co-founder Daniel Shin.

The broadcaster KBS reported that the prosecution had “requested a freeze action from” Binance, “in relation to [cryptoassets] that appear to be owned by Shin.”

An official from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office claimed that Shin had sent a “large variety” of coins to “overseas exchanges, including Binance.”

The official explained that the exchange had been asked to “freeze” the funds “as soon as it is confirmed” that Shin was indeed the owner.

The prosecution claims that the coin stash includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT) holdings.

Will Binance Freeze Terra Co-founder’s Crypto?

Last year, the crypto exchanges KuCoin and OKEx complied with a request from the prosecution to freeze coins thought to belong to Do Kwon, Shin’s Terraform Co-founder.

Binance has recently struck an investment deal with the South Korean operating license-holding trading platform Gopax.

As such, it may well be minded to cooperate with the request.

Who Is Terraform Co-Founder Daniel Shin?

Shin (real name: Shin Hyun-seong) is the founder of the Chai Corporation payments platform.

He claims that he and his firm severed ties with Terra and Kwon back in 2020.

But South Korean media outlets and prosecutors appear to be skeptical of this claim, particularly in the light of an interview given three weeks prior to the May 2022 Terra ecosystem crash.

In the interview, Shin stated that Chai products could be topped up or recharged at “Terra stations.”

Prosecution officials have raided Shin’s home and offices on multiple occasions.

They are also thought to be attempting to secure an arrest warrant for Shin, after failing with an effort late last year.

The prosecution added that it believed more crypto had been hidden “by Terra officials,” and was “continuing” its investigation into the matter.

Kwon was arrested for allegedly attempting to travel on forged documents along with a fellow Terra official in Montenegro last month.