Jane Street UST insider-edge suit: $192M TerraUSD trades

Manhattan federal court filings allege Jane Street Group sold about $192M of TerraUSD (UST) ahead of the Terra/Luna collapse, possibly using an “insider edge.” Plaintiffs cite an invitation-only Telegram chat linking Bryce Pratt (ex-Terraform Labs intern, later Jane Street) with former colleagues, alleging the channel helped Jane Street offload UST near par and then open short positions. The complaint highlights an $85M UST sale on May 7, 2022 via Curve Finance, allegedly occurring nine minutes after Terraform Labs withdrew about $150M UST from the same Curve pool. The filings attribute the trade to a Jane Street wallet and argue the timing supported the “front-running” theory, with linked profits estimated around $134M. Jane Street denies wrongdoing and says losses were driven by Terraform Labs’ alleged fraud; it also argues the complaint fails to identify specific material non-public information. The defendants include Robert Granieri and trader Michael Huang, and plaintiffs seek restitution and creditor-loss compensation under potential federal securities and Commodity Exchange Act theories. The case is strengthened by a 2023 SEC-related ruling that classified UST and LUNA as securities. Newer details add that Jane Street allegedly offered a job to Terraform Labs’ head of research shortly after the May 18, 2022 UST depeg, and internal messages cited in filings include jokes about having an informational advantage. For crypto traders, this is another legal overhang around UST/LUNA mechanics and risk pricing—expect headline-driven volatility around regulatory/insider-trading precedents rather than changes tied to protocol fundamentals.