Daniel Shin
Co-founder of Terraform Labs (with Do Kwon) and founder of the Chai payments platform. South Korean prosecutors indicted him in 2023 over the Terra/LUNA collapse (fraud, embezzlement, Capital Markets Act violations); he denies wrongdoing and his trial remains ongoing.
Also known as: Shin Hyun-seong, Shin Hyun-seung
Note: Daniel Shin is indicted in South Korea, denies the charges (saying he left before the 2022 collapse), and has not been convicted; arrest warrants against him were rejected twice and he has remained free.
Bio
Daniel Shin (Shin Hyun-seong), a Wharton graduate and e-commerce entrepreneur, co-founded Terraform Labs in 2018 with Do Kwon and built the Chai payments platform associated with the Terra ecosystem. [1][2]
Status
On April 25, 2023, Seoul Southern District prosecutors indicted Shin and several other Terra figures on charges including fraud, breach of duty, embezzlement, and Capital Markets Act violations, alleging he and accomplices reaped ~462.9 billion won in illegal profits; prosecutors framed his culpability as exceeding Kwon's. Shin denies the charges, and his trial has remained active. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Sources (2)
See also
Luke BelmarIndividualsCryptocurrency influencer Luke Belmar (@lukebelmar on X) became the subject of controversy following allegations related to the promotion of a memecoin. Critics on social media alleged that Belmar used a series of posts referencing a forthcoming cryptocurrency project and a large-scale airdrop to generate interest in a token without explicitly identifying a specific contract address. Belmar published multiple posts discussing an upcoming memecoin, describing plans for what he characterized as a major airdrop and making comparisons to other cryptocurrency projects. Because no contract address was publicly provided, several tokens emerged claiming association with his statements. Critics alleged that this ambiguity enabled speculation around multiple tokens while avoiding a direct endorsement of any particular asset.
- Donald BasileIndividualsFounder behind Bitcoin Latinum (LTNM). The SEC charged him in 2026 with defrauding investors of ~$16M by falsely claiming the token was insured and asset-backed, and misappropriating funds for personal use (including a $160,000 horse).
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.