The first generation catfish of the stablecoin industry, Do Kwon, is fighting for his housing payment "rights".

Written by: Business Times

Compiled by: Azuma, Odaily Planet Daily

Editor’s note: The man who once stirred the stablecoin world is now involved in a legal dispute over the recovery of home purchase funds.

As one of the most prominent names in the last bull market, the algorithmic stablecoin UST launched by Do Kwon saw its issuance reach over ten billion dollars at one point. His personal net worth also peaked at the height of LUNA, measured in “billions.” However, all of this has shattered like a bubble. Today, Do Kwon is facing multiple fraud charges in various places such as the United States and Singapore. Recently, media reports revealed that he is seeking to recover half of the payment made to a real estate developer for a purchase that was never completed before the UST collapse.

The following are the details of the story published by the local Singaporean media, Lianhe Zaobao, as cited by Business Times, compiled by Odaily Planet Daily.

Business Times cited a report from Lianhe Zaobao, stating that the Singapore High Court has dismissed a claim initiated by Do Kwon, co-founder of the defunct blockchain company Terraform Labs. In this claim, Do Kwon sought to have property developer SC Global refund the payment made for a luxury penthouse apartment located on Orchard Road in Singapore.

Documents from the High Court show that five months before the collapse of the cryptocurrency UST and LUNA in 2022, Do Kwon had his eye on a penthouse four-bedroom apartment on the 19th floor of Sculptura Ardmore, which has an area of approximately 7600 square feet (about 706 square meters) and is one of only three penthouses in the project, valued at 38.8 million SGD.

It is reported that Do Kwon paid a total of approximately 19.4 million SGD (including option fees and subsequent payments), which is nearly half of the total price; however, the transaction was not completed, and the apartment was eventually resold for 34.5 million SGD.

Sculptura Ardmore is developed by property developer SC Global. The condominium was launched in 2012 and completed in 2014. In 2017, Meta co-founder Eduardo Saverin also invested 60 million SGD to purchase a penthouse in the project.

It is said that SC Global confiscated the amount paid by Do Kwon, but Do Kwon insists that the confiscation is invalid and has filed a lawsuit with the Singapore High Court through his wife, but the related application was rejected by the Singapore High Court on July 26.

In addition, Do Kwon and his wife signed a 16-month lease with the real estate developer (from February 2022 to June 2023), with a monthly rent of 40,000 SGD, prepaying a total of 640,000 SGD, and carried out extensive renovations on the apartment.

On May 17, 2023, Do Kwon authorized his wife to pay 1,000 Singapore dollars to exercise the housing option, but the transaction was not completed before May 31, 2023. The housing option and lease both expired on June 22, 2023, and the transaction was terminated, with the paid amount being retained by the developer.

However, Do Kwon's wife continued to live in the apartment until July 25, 2023, and paid an additional month's rent. SC Global accused her of breaching the lease and demanded that Do Kwon and his wife pay an additional month's rent, along with a claim for 90,000 Singapore dollars in maintenance costs. High Court Judge Philip Jeyaretnam dismissed SC Global's maintenance claims but ruled that Do Kwon and his wife must pay an additional month's rent of 40,000 Singapore dollars and related legal fees.