Do Kwon’s trial stemming from the collapse of his Terra crypto project was pushed from January to February 2026 at the second pre-trial conference in Manhattan court on Thursday.
Judge Paul Engelmayer revealed he had overlooked a conflict and neither side objected to moving the trial start back one month. That may now give more time for a pro-crypto pivot in the U.S. to play out ahead of Kwon’s trial.
During the hearing, Judge Engelmayer asked prosecutors whether a new pro-crypto memo from the Department of Justice would have any bearing on the case. The memo, penned by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche this week notes, “The Justice Department will no longer pursue litigation or enforcement actions that have the effect of superimposing regulatory frameworks on digital assets while President Trump’s actual regulators do this work outside the punitive criminal justice framework.”
But lead prosecutor Jared Lenow mentioned that the memo would not change anything about the case against Do Kwon from heading to trial. Prosecutors at another case hearing Thursday involving the sentencing of Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky also made mention that the memo was only meant to be forward-looking.
“We’re aware of the memo,” Lenow said on behalf of the government. “We have no plans to change our charges at this time.”
Do Kwon’s new lead attorney, Hecker Fink’s David Patton, sat by Kwon’s side for the duration of the trial conference and noted that the memo could lead to some pre-trial motions. More specifically, the defense reserved the right to raise new questions if the government changes its opinions on whether Terra’s UST or LUNA crypto tokens were or were not securities. Do Kwon stands charged with counts of fraud stemming from commodities, securities, along with conspiracy and money laundering charges.
Lenow pointed out that some of the charges do pertain to conduct carried out by the Luna Foundation Guard, which marketed using Bitcoin to defend the algorithmic stablecoin’s peg before it infamously failed in 2022, resulting in over $40 billion in investor losses. Coinage was the first to interview Do Kwon after the collapse in an award-winning documentary.
The Securities and Exchange Commission won its case last year against both Terraform Labs and Do Kwon, in which Kwon and his company were found to be liable for fraud. The SEC pursued a record $4 billion dollar penalty against the company and Terra filed for bankruptcy protection.
After winning an extradition battle last year, the Department of Justice unsealed a superseding indictment detailing a series of damning allegations against Kwon. If convicted on all counts, Kwon faces a potential 130-year prison term, underscoring the gravity of the courtroom battle that is set to shape up in New York. But before that unfolds, both sides will have more time to discuss things.
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