UPDATE: Terraform Labs vs SEC; Trial Begins without Do Kwon

New developments in the civil battle between Terraform Labs and the SEC, as the court battle begins despite the glaring absence of Do Kwon. Do Kwon’s extradition to the US was abruptly halted by the Montenegro court of appeal, cementing the high court’s decision to extradite the defendant to South Korea. The decision was a blow to the US, as they also requested to have Do Kwon extradited to the country.

Following these developments, the Manhattan court was forced to proceed with the scheduled hearings despite the noticeable absence of Do Kwon.

According to Zack Guzman, both the plaintiff and the defendant came prepared for the task. “Most obvious difference: all suits in the courtroom. Terra and the SEC came to play for the civil trial” in comparison to the SBF court trial.

Reportedly, Judge Rakoff proceeded to lay out the ground rules for the proceedings, mentioning that only four-word objections would be allowed, and the trial was expected to last a fortnight.

Do Kwon’s detention by the Montenegro court arose in court causing a minor back-and-forth over how to refer to his absence. The defense mentioned that Do is still in Montenegro serving time for a forged passport.

Terraform vs the SEC, Manhattan Court developments

Shortly after, the Jury selection began, and noticeably, the first jury included 6 women and 3 men jurors. The courtroom later got down to serious matters after a few seconds of light humor about New York sports, which supposedly didn’t resonate well with Korean media.

After the brief light moments, Judge Rakoff made it clear that the case only comes down to two claims.

1. Did Terraform Labs misrepresent Chai using Terra?
2. Did Terraform Labs mislead on why UST could be pegged to $1?

According to the court, each party had 30 minutes to make their argument. The SEC went first. Noticeably, there were a lot of glaring similarities in their argument against the SBF’s case. The key takeaway is that the SEC maintained a strong stance that the case was about fraud and not about technology.

The Defense later followed up with a rather similar claim from Do Kwon’s earlier interview, stating that “Failure doesn’t equal Fraud”.

The counsel later on strongly called out the SEC for their selective use of facts and hinted that Chai actually did use Terra.

What Next for Do Kwon’s Terraform Labs vs the SEC Trial?

The trials are set to continue within a period of two weeks with many crypto heads rooting for another loss for the SEC. Zack Guzman’s narration of Twitter sparked interest from CT, with several people requesting more detailed updates on the trial.

Zack replied that he’d gladly issue updates if CT actually wanted them. As we continue to keep a close eye on the Trial, it is interesting to witness how things will unfold without the presence of Do Kwon.