A Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on Wednesday confirmed that Terraform Labs, the parent company of the Terra ecosystem, has named an interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chris Amani, to run the company.
Recall that the co-founder and former CEO of the embattled crypto company, Do Kwon is facing fraud charges stemming from the $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies. He is currently imprisoned in Montenegro, with the United States and his native country, South Korea currently seeking his extradition.
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Terraform Labs confirmed that its founder Do Kwon decided to step down as CEO on March 31 2023, about a week after his arrest, and as Director on May 27 while he focuses on personal legal affairs.
The company says having played an integral role in Terraform Labs’ strategy and operations, Chris Amani is poised to accelerate the company’s mission during a pivotal point in its history.
Who is Chris Amani?
Chris Amani was previously the Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer at Terraform Labs. Before joining Terra in December 2021, he was the CEO of Humanity, a computer software company that provides software designed for employee scheduling. He attended the University of Arkansas and San Jose State University, in the United States.
In a conversation with WSJ, Chris Amani said in his administration, Terra would develop applications that provide real utility and would share more details of its plans in the coming months.
“The process won’t be easy, but we have a clear vision of where Terra fits within the broader Web3 ecosystem and are hyper-focused on executing against that vision. We look forward to sharing more on this soon.”
Chris Amani
Amani also said following the crash of TerraUSD, the community has decided to learn from the experience and rebuild Terra without algorithmic stablecoins. While wishing the former embattled CEO all the best in his legal battles, he noted that it was vital that the company continues without him.
“We wish Do the best and we hope that he’s able to clear himself of all charges. But while he’s incarcerated and while he’s facing his own legal challenges, it just makes sense for us to continue on without him,” he said.
However, Do Kwon remains the majority shareholder of Terraform Labs. Notably, the United States SEC said in court filings that Kwon owns 92% of the company’s shares.
What is next for Chris Amani and Terraform?
The SEC filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Terraform Labs and Kwon in February, accusing them of misleading investors with TerraUSD and Luna. Subsequently, the company’s lawyers sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the agency exceeded its authority.
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Federal prosecutors in New York charged Do Kwon with eight criminal counts of fraud stemming from the collapse but his lawyers haven’t formally responded to the criminal charges and are unlikely to do so unless he is extradited to the United States. Also, South Korea charged Kwon with violating its capital-markets law.
However, this new appointment of Chris Amani as Director and interim CEO shows that the company is pressing on with a long-shot bid to revive the Terra blockchain that underpinned the failed cryptocurrencies (Luna and TerraUsd).
It seems to be one of the steps in a gradual direction to reestablish the Terra ecosystem and how long this would go is yet to be seen.
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