Crypto Investor Voluntarily Dismisses Own Terra Lawsuit
Do Kwon and Terraform Labs still face multiple legal threats, despite Matthew Albright dismissing his complaint against them
Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon | Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel
A cryptocurrency investor has voluntarily chosen to withdraw a proposed class-action suit against Terraform Labs (TFL), after alleging that the firm’s stablecoin UST amounted to a Ponzi scheme that caused losses to him and others.
A court document filed Jan. 9 showed Matthew Albright dismissed his complaint without prejudice, implying that he still has the option to refile at another point if he wishes.
It isn’t clear yet whether Albright has joined other ongoing legal battles against Do Kwon and Terraform.
US law firm Scott+Scott currently has a class-action lawsuit against Terraform and other affiliates, similarly claiming that investors were deceived into purchasing Terra tokens at artificially inflated prices.
A Terraform Labs spokesperson told Blockworks that Albright chose to shelve the case “after it was demonstrated that he had sustained no injury.”
“South Korean prosecutors had nine of their nine detention warrants rejected by the courts, the LFG report was released and demonstrated the above-and-beyond efforts by LFG and TFL to defend the UST peg, an explanation emerged for the attack itself, and now this case has been voluntarily dismissed,” the spokesperson added.
The collapse of UST and sister token Luna last year took down nearly $40 billion in representative value, with investors losing almost $45 billion within a span of few days. In one shocking incident, a man in Taiwan reportedly committed suicide after losing $2 million from his investment in Luna tokens.
Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon, Jump Trading, Delphi Digital and Luna Foundation Guard were among the other defendants named in Albright’s complaint.
About a month ago, Jump Trading asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the investor hadn’t proven how Jump or its president were part of Terraform’s “racketeering,” according to Law360.
Three Arrows Capital co-founder Su Zhu tweeted about Albright’s dismissal on Tuesday, calling it “sudden.” Zhu, whose crypto hedge fund crumbled after TerraUST’s collapse, recently defended the failed stablecoin as he blamed Digital Currency Group and Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX for playing a role in LUNA’s collapse.
In a Jan. 3 Twitter thread, he said DCG “conspired with FTX to attack Luna” and “made a fair bit doing so.”
To be clear, Zhu hasn’t addressed why FTX would be willing to engage in a conspiracy that would land its own trading firm Alameda Research in trouble.
He’s also been called out by the crypto community for blaming everyone, aside from himself and co-founder Kyle Davies. Both are reportedly living in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Aside from being a crypto hub, the UAE is among the top 2 countries for quality of life among the 80 or so in the world that lacks an extradition treaty with the US (the other is Oman).
Anthony Sassano, host of The Daily Gwei podcast, said mockingly in a tweet: “Everyone was behind the collapse of [3AC] except for Su Zhu and Kyle Davies — they are totally innocent parties who were simply forced to be on the losing side of highly profitable trading strategies.”
Correction, Jan. 11, 2023 at 2 p.m. ET — An earlier version of this article stated that the law firm Bragger Eagle & Squire is currently involved in a class action lawsuit. They initially prepared such a suit, but withdrew after not being selected to represent a lead plaintiff.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
- Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
- Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
- 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
- Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
- The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
- Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
