Is Prison Crypto’s New Glow-Up? Post-Incarceration Do Kwon and SBF Are Admired – Unchained

Going to jail doesn’t seem to have been such a bad thing for fallen crypto moguls such as Do Kwon, Su Zhu, and Sam Bankman-Fried—at least judging by appearances.

Now that more than one aspiring crypto mogul has spent time in prison—and with possibly more on the way—some onlookers have observed a surprising improvement in appearance in the crypto bros who have done some time. 

Most recently, after a new video of Do Kwon being led from a Montenegrin jail by heavily-armed guards began to circulate on X, many observers suggested that Kwon’s buzz cut and hardened visage were noticeable improvements on the embattled crypto founder’s looks. The SEC’s civil fraud trial against Kwon and Terraform began on Monday, with both the U.S. and South Korea currently seeking Kwon’s extradition. 

Footage of Do Kwon today pic.twitter.com/qwM77ihTvB

— Spreek (@spreekaway) March 23, 2024

One commenter on X noted how “Do Kwon [was] looking lean and mean,” while another asked, “when will he be back on Twitter / podcasts telling us how he recommends prison for everyone?” 

Among the notable industry figures who commented was Su Zhu, cofounder of bankrupt trading firm Three Arrows Capital. Zhu, who spent some time in a prison in Singapore last year for missing a court date, tweeted a screen shot from the video on Monday shortly after midnight, writing alongside it that “I keep telling ppl that prison is the dopamine rehab / discipline maxxing that you know you need. Don’t fade.”

Zhu, who was dubbed along with Kwon as one of the “Four Horsemen of the Cryptocalypse” for his role in crypto’s 2022 bloodshed, has been touting the benefits of prison quite often of late. 

In a short video of an unnamed podcast posted to X in January, Zhu said, “Obviously, no one wants to go to prison, but I think that it’s actually a really enjoyable experience overall.”

His fellow 3AC co-founder, KyleDavies, who is wanted for a four-month prison sentence in Singapore for the same reason as Zhu, minimized Zhu’s prison time in a recent Unchained podcast saying that Zhu spent six weeks meditating and was “very much appreciative of his time” there. “[Zhu] is considering writing a book with one of his cellmates to help people that go through a similar process,” Davies added. 

Zhu did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

Comparisons With SBF

Some on social media have compared Kwon’s prison-release  photos to the more composed way that Sam Bankman-Fried appeared when he showed up for his criminal trial last fall. After posting a photo of Kwon before and after prison and captioning it “More proof that prison is a very good thing,” one Twitter user posted similar before and after photos of SBF and noted how it is “not just Do Kwon – SBF benefitted from being behind bars for a while.” 

Not just Do Kwon – SBF benefitted from being behind bars for a while, too. Let’s see what happens next! pic.twitter.com/h5AnoJ7mu6

— ib (@Indian_Bronson) March 25, 2024

Another Twitter user retweeted photos of SBF when he was being extradited to the U.S. in late 2022 after serving time in prison in the Bahamas, noting “Please don’t make me say it… SBF … extradition … glow up.” Heatmap News correspondent Matthew Zeitlin also commented on the photos that SBF “looks better now than he did before all this.”

Read more: SBF’s Prison Sentencing Is Coming Up. How Many Years Will He Get?

And given that the trial for Avi Eisenberg, the famed Mango Markets attacker, is coming up, there may be more post-prison crypto glow-ups to admire.