NEW YORK—Onetime cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison after a $40 billion crash revealed his crypto ecosystem to be a fraud. Victims said the 34-year-old financial technology whiz weaponized their trust to convince them that the investment—secretly propped up by cash infusions—was safe.
Kwon, a Stanford graduate known by some as “the cryptocurrency king,” apologized after listening as victims—one in court and others by telephone—described the scam’s toll: wiping out nest eggs, depleting charities and wrecking lives. One told the judge in a letter that he contemplated suicide after his father lost his retirement money in the scheme.
