Former hedge fund manager and “Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli has tried to reassure Terraform Labs chief Kwon Do-hyung, also known as Do Kwon, that life in jail is “not the worst”, while they discussed the Binance-FTX deal on the UpOnlyTV podcast early morning Wednesday, Asia time.
See related article: Crypto fugitive Do Kwon said to be hiding in Europe, mocks ‘cops from world over’ in series of tweets
Fast facts
- “I just want to let you know jail’s not that bad, it’s not the worst thing ever, so don’t fret. I hope it doesn’t happen. But if it does happen, it’s not that bad,” Shkreli, who served four years in prison for securities fraud, told Kwon on the podcast.
- South Korean authorities are looking to arrest Kwon after the collapse of Terra stablecoin and LUNA cryptocurrency, under charges including fraud and violation of the capital markets act.
- Kwon has said he is not “on the run” and has repeatedly expressed his willingness to cooperate with South Korea’s investigation into Terra-LUNA, but refused to reveal his whereabouts, citing threats to his personal security and privacy.
- Along with South Korea’s arrest warrant on Kwon, the Interpol has issued a ‘red notice’ on the Terra chief executive, which asks global law enforcement to locate and provisionally arrest an individual.
- It was announced Tuesday that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, would acquire rival exchange FTX, led by Sam Bankman-Fried who was long touted as the young face of crypto. As the news hit the crypto space, waves of speculation surrounding Bankman-Fried filled online communities.
- “I’m assuming the sale price is at a reasonable discount to whatever the private funding round was, but if CZ steps in and makes users whole, there’s no reason why he [Sam Bankman Fried] would be in any meaningful distress. He’ll probably move on to something else,” said Kwon on the Twitch podcast.
See related article: Binance becomes white knight for fallen FTX: How did we get here?