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Do Kwon gets 15 years for Terraform fraud

Former Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon received a 15-year federal prison term for fraud tied to the collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrency ecosystem, a collapse that wiped out tens of billions and devastated global investors - link

OUR TAKE: Steady lads, deploying more sentences. 

SBF filched his way into mainstream media when FTX went kablooey, but Do Kwon’s scam was the match that lit the FTX fuse.

You could argue Kwon was the best (worst) of the 2021 class of crime.

Prosecutors said Kwon caused losses that eclipsed those caused by Samuel Bankman-Fried, Alexander Mashinsky, and Karl Sebastian Greenwood COMBINED.

Do Kwon’s lawyers argued that his downfall was "Hubris, Not Greed." It's a believable defense, actually. Our industry is filled with god complexes.

Here’s the breakdown for last cycle’s high profile prison sentences:

• SBF: 25 years

• Do Kwon: 15 years

• Mashinsky: 12 years

• CZ: 4 months → pardoned by Trump

Pleas for pardons are definitely on the table these days. After both Ross Ulbricht and CZ received clemency, we’re seeing recent campaigning by Samourai Wallet devs seeking the same. So will Kwon shoot his shot?

An under-appreciated secondary effect of the Do Kwon-ening was the effective demonization of algorithmic stablecoins.

They still exist today, but they are mostly regulated to the fringe. Investors (rightly so) are skeptical of algorithmically backed assets and clearly prefer collateralized models like USDC, USDT, etc.

Do Kwon once told his critics to 'have fun staying poor.' Now, he'll have 15 years to reflect on the definition of destitution from an 8 x 8 concrete cell.

-CBS

ERCOT sees 270% surge in interconnection requests in 2025

Texas’ grid authority, The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), has seen a 270% surge in large load interconnection requests in 2025, according to an ERCOT Board of Director’s presentation. This equates to 266 GWs of load looking for interconnection by 2030, with 73% of the demand coming from AI/HPC data center demand.

OUR TAKE: Y’all got anymore of those electrons?

But first, let’s get something out of the way. Yes, we know these are only requests for interconnection and not approvals, and yes, we know this likely includes repeat requests from the same operators (e.g., a firm requesting 100 MW from two providers would be counted twice, but that provider only needs 100 MW).

Even so, the demand is unprecedented. ERCOT received 152 large load requests from Q4 2022 through 2024. It had received 225 in 2025 by mid-November.

The data point is yet another quantitative validation of the insatiable demand for AI and, more accurately, the electrons that animate it.

The demand raises a party-pooping question, however. How much of this interconnection demand can Texas support?

Well, ERCOT also reported 432 GW of generation interconnection requests in 2025 as of the end of October.

Before you clap, the vast majority of this is solar and battery generation (77%).

Now this isn’t necessarily bad in isolation. As Luxor’s Director of Energy Trading, Haley Thomson, explained on a Mining Pod earlier this year, Texas’ rapid deployment of battery storage has mitigated intermittency issues with renewables and largely quashed the renewable duck curve.

But another key instrument for balancing Texas’ grid is a sector we know all too well here at Blockspace. Miners are extremely price sensitive, so when power prices spike, they shut down and ease grid stress when necessary.

AI data centers don’t do this, generally speaking. Depending on their tier and use case, they require near-perfect uptime, and ideally, they are drawing from reliable baseload power like nuclear, hydro, natural gas, or coal, which don’t have the same seasonal, climatic, and temporal limits on production that are intrinsic to solar and wind. 

Batteries help. But it would be more encouraging to see more natural gas and nuclear – and dare I say coal! – added to the mix. 

And if you don’t want to take my word for it, just ask yourself why Microsoft brokered a deal with Constellation Energy to restart Three Mile Island, or why Google and NextERA are reviving the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa.

-CMH

Luxor Expands Into GPU Trading

Luxor is now brokering GPUs for AI and HPC infrastructure, bringing the same verified sourcing and logistics expertise that has powered $750 million in Bitcoin mining hardware transactions.

→ Read the Full Announcement

Nakamoto Holdings (NAKA) refinances debt with $210M bitcoin-backed loan

Kindly MD (NASDAQ: NAKA), via its subsidiary Nakamoto Holdings, secured a $210 million, bitcoin-backed loan from cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to pay off a similar loan with Antalpha.  - link

IREN closes $2.3 billion convertible notes offering and repurchases debt

Bitcoin miner-turned-AI firm IREN (Nasdaq: IREN) closed a $2.3 billion offering of convertible senior notes and completed the repurchase of $544.3 million in existing debt as of Monday. - link

Strategy acquires 10,624 bitcoin for $963 million through stock issuance

Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) acquired 10,624 bitcoin for approximately $962.7 million in cash between December 1 and December 7. - link

MicroBT launches M70 Whatsminer series with 12.5 J/TH efficiency at Abu Dhabi event

Bitcoin manufacturer MicroBT released its newest WhatsMiners unit series, Monday the M70, targeting 12.5 J/TH efficiency. - link

PNC opens bitcoin trading to private client in partnership with Coinbase

PNC has opened bitcoin and crypto trading to its private clients, leveraging Coinbase’s Crypto-as-a-Service for the new offering. - link

CFTC pilot program to test bitcoin, crypto as collateral for futures trading

The CFTC is piloting a program that allows futures commission merchants to accept bitcoin, ether, and approved stablecoins as margin collateral for futures contracts at regulated U.S. futures exchanges. - link