- Terraform Labs has filed a motion to access data from FTX’s digital wallets, hoping to bolster its defense in an SEC lawsuit.
- Terraform contends its stablecoin failure in 2022 was due to a coordinated attack from short sellers, potentially involving Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company.
In the intricate weave of legal and financial proceedings, Terraform Labs has moved to subpoena data from the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX. This data, according to court filings, could be pivotal to Terraform’s defense against a lawsuit brought forth by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February.
Analyzing the Allegations and Terraform’s Defense
Seeking to present a sturdy defense against the SEC’s fraud charges, Terraform’s lawyers, on July 19th, requested access to details about the digital wallets used by short sellers during the period of March to May 2022. It was during this time frame that Terraform’s algorithmic stablecoin faced its downfall. Terraform is presenting an argument that the demise of its stablecoin was not due to inherent mismanagement, but rather a strategic assault from short sellers, who might have had ties to Alameda Research, FTX’s affiliated entity.
The SEC lawsuit filed on February 16 accuses Terraform Labs and its founder, Do Kwon, of engineering a “multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.” As per the regulatory body, Terraform was allegedly offering unregistered securities through its failed algorithmic stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST), and the Terra Luna (LUNA) token. The collapse of Terraform in 2022 reportedly led to over $40 billion in losses across the cryptocurrency market.
A Web of Transactions and Legal Challenges
The motion filed by Terraform not only seeks details regarding FTX’s transactions but also demands information about the wallets used by Jump Trading. The SEC has implicated Jump Trading in a collusion scheme with Terraform, aimed at manipulating the price of the UST stablecoin. Jump Trading is currently facing a lawsuit in Illinois, accused of buying millions of UST tokens in 2021 as part of an agreement with Terraform to restore the stablecoin peg to $1.
As the legal proceedings unfold, Terraform is also attempting to dismiss a concurrent class-action lawsuit in California. The company asserts that its base in Singapore exempts it from U.S. securities laws which, it claims, are not relevant to its foreign-developed protocols.
