Global Wanted Persons Notice for Do Kwon Issued: Report

Do Kwon’s Red Notice comes a week after the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office requested the step from Interpol

article-image

Blockworks Exclusive Art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • A Red Notice is a worldwide request to arrest a suspect from Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization
  • Kwon was previously seen in Singapore, though authorities there deny he is no longer residing in the city-state

Interpol has issued a global request to arrest Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon, Bloomberg reported. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office confirmed the development Sunday after it requested Interpol issue him a Red Notice at the beginning of last week.

A Red Notice, while not the same as an arrest warrant, is a request at the behest of a member country to law enforcement worldwide for the location and arrest of an individual pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.

Kwon, rumored to have been living in Singapore after leaving his home country of South Korea, is wanted for charges relating to his involvement in Terra’s collapse earlier this year.

South Korean prosecutors said last week Kwon was “obviously on the run” from authorities and was refusing to cooperate. Kwon later denied those claims in a series of tweets, saying at the time he did not “have anything to hide.”

Earlier this month and more than four months after Terra’s implosion, a South Korean court issued a national warrant for his arrest, leading to the request by prosecutors to Interpol.

At the beginning of May, aggressive liquidations created a hyperinflationary death spiral for Terra’s LUNA token and UST, wiping out nearly $30 billion from the Terra ecosystem and a further $30 billion from the wider crypto market.

Terra’s collapse sent a seismic contagion shockwave throughout the crypto market in May, triggering billions of dollars in losses across its ecosystem as well as across projects, lenders and hedge funds.

“In hindsight, I think we should have been more skeptical,” Kwon said during an interview with Coinage last month. At the time, the founder blamed a leak from within his company that ultimately led to the stablecoin’s downward spiral.

The failed algorithmic stablecoin project has also drawn additional attention to the industry from lawmakers in the EU and US, who have since crafted legislation designed, they say, to reduce or prevent further stablecoin harm.

“INTERPOL cannot compel the law enforcement authorities in any country to arrest someone who is the subject of a Red Notice,” an agency FAQ reads.

Whether the global notice results in Do Kwon’s arrest will depend on his actual location and the local authorities’ willingness to act on it.


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.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

The network is at a “pivotal juncture,” Blockworks Research’s Marc-Thomas Arjoon said

article-image

Altcoin trade volume has returned to pre-FTX levels, but with a shrinking pool of market leaders

article-image

Solana Foundation’s former head of strategy proposes increasing the disinflation rate

article-image

With much of the bitcoin mining supply chain based in Asia, US-based operations now face higher equipment prices

article-image

Anticipating an economic downturn, venture firms may be less likely to invest

article-image

Trump’s tariffs may have potentially significant impacts on GDP, household spending and food prices — if they hold