Terraform Labs contends Citadel Securities had a hand in its stablecoin collapse
Do Kwon-founded Terraform Labs has again pointed the finger at market maker Citadel Securities for its role in an alleged “concerted, intentional effort” to cause the depeg of its stablecoin in 2022.
On Oct. 10, Terraform Labs filed a motion in the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida to compel Citadel Securities LLC to produce documents relating to its trading actions in May 2022, around the time its stablecoin, now known as TerraUSD Classic (USTC), depegged.
It contends the May 2022 depeg, when the asset crashed from $1 to $0.02, was caused by “certain third-party market participants” intentionally shorting the stablecoin, as opposed to instability in its algorithm.
“Movant [Terraform] contends that the market destabilization that occurred did not result from instability in the algorithm underlying the UST stablecoin,” said the firm in its motion.
“Instead, Movant contends that the market was destabilized due to the concerted, intentional effort of certain third party market participants to “short” and cause UST to depeg from its one dollar price.”
The motion also cites “publicly available evidence” suggesting that Citadel head Ken Griffin intended to short the stablecoin around the time of the depeg.
“There is publicly available evidence suggesting that the head of the Citadel Entities, Ken Griffin, intended to short UST at or about the time of the May 2022 depeg.”
The filing cited a screenshot from a Discord channel chat in which a pseudonymous trader had lunch with Griffin, who allegedly said “They were going to Soros the f*** out of Luna UST,” presumably in reference to George Soros’ trading strategies — centered around highly leveraged, one-way bets.
Citadel Securities has however previously denied trading the TerraUSD stablecoin in May 2022, according to Forbes.
Cointelegraph contacted Citadel for additional comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Related: Do Kwon says SEC’s extradition request is impossible
In its motion, Terraform argues that the documents are crucial for its defense in the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February, which alleges Terraform Labs and its founder, Do Kwon, had a hand in “orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.”
“This defense will be substantially impaired if Citadel Securities is successful in withholding this limited information,” it stated.
If the court refuses to compel Citadel to produce the trading documents, Terraform requested the matter be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for decision by Judge Rakoff.
In July, Terraform Labs sought permission from a judge to subpoena data from bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, also claiming the information could help its defense.
Magazine: Blockchain detectives — Mt. Gox collapse saw birth of Chainalysis
According to the US Department of Justice, Wolf Capital’s co-founder has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for luring 2,800 crypto investors into a Ponzi scheme.
Making Britain better off will be “at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind” during her visit to China, the Treasury has said amid controversy over the trip.
Rachel Reeves flew out on Friday after ignoring calls from opposition parties to cancel the long-planned venture because of market turmoil at home.
The past week has seen a drop in the pound and an increase in government borrowing costs, which has fuelled speculation of more spending cuts or tax rises.
The Tories have accused the chancellor of having “fled to China” rather than explain how she will fix the UK’s flatlining economy, while the Liberal Democrats say she should stay in Britain and announce a “plan B” to address market volatility.
However, Ms Reeves has rejected calls to cancel the visit, writing in The Times on Friday night that choosing not to engage with China is “no choice at all”.
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The chancellor will be accompanied by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and other senior executives.
She will meet with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in Beijing on Saturday to discuss financial services, trade and investment.
She will also “raise difficult issues”, including Chinese firms supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and concerns over constraints on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, the Treasury said.
But it did not mention whether Ms Reeves would raise the treatment of the Uyghur community, which Downing Street said Foreign Secretary David Lammy would do during his visit last year.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Pic: AP
On Friday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy defended the trip, telling Sky News that the climbing cost of government borrowing was a “global trend” that had affected many countries, “most notably the United States”.
“We are still on track to be the fastest growing economy, according to the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] in Europe,” she told Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast.
“China is the second-largest economy, and what China does has the biggest impact on people from Stockton to Sunderland, right across the UK, and it’s absolutely essential that we have a relationship with them.”
Read more – Ed Conway analysis: The chancellor’s gamble with China
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Nandy defends Reeves’ trip to China
However, former prime minister Boris Johnson said Ms Reeves had “been rumbled” and said she should “make her way to HR and collect her P45 – or stay in China”.
While in the country’s capital, Ms Reeves will also visit British bike brand Brompton’s flagship store, which relies heavily on exports to China, before heading to Shanghai for talks with representatives across British and Chinese businesses.
It is the first UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) since 2019, building on the Labour government’s plan for a “pragmatic” policy with the world’s second-largest economy.
Sir Keir Starmer was the first British prime minister to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping in six years at the G20 summit in Brazil last autumn.
Relations between the UK and China have become strained over the last decade as the Conservative government spoke out against human rights abuses and concerns grew over national security risks.
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How much do we trade with China?
Navigating this has proved tricky given China is the UK’s fourth largest single trading partner, with a trade relationship worth almost £113bn and exports to China supporting over 455,000 jobs in the UK in 2020, according to the government.
During the Tories’ 14 years in office, the approach varied dramatically from the “golden era” under David Cameron to hawkish aggression under Liz Truss, while Rishi Sunak vowed to be “robust” but resisted pressure from his own party to brand China a threat.
The Treasury said a stable relationship with China would support economic growth and that “making working people across Britain secure and better off is at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind”.
Ahead of her visit, Ms Reeves said: “By finding common ground on trade and investment, while being candid about our differences and upholding national security as the first duty of this government, we can build a long-term economic relationship with China that works in the national interest.”
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