On Thursday, Montenegro’s Appeals Court upheld a lower court’s decision to extradite Do Kwon, a South Korean entrepreneur known as “the cryptocurrency king,” to South Korea. This ruling rejected a competing request for his extradition to the United States.
The decision concludes a protracted legal battle involving Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, who was apprehended in Montenegro last year. Both South Korea and the U.S. had sought Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro, adding to the complexity of the case.
Montenegrin courts had previously issued and overturned several rulings regarding Kwon’s extradition, reflecting the contentious nature of the legal proceedings. The Appeals Court’s ruling is now legally binding, though it remains unclear when Kwon will be transferred.
In the U.S., Kwon faces charges of fraud filed by federal prosecutors in New York, related to the $40 billion collapse of Terraform Labs’ cryptocurrency. This crash significantly impacted retail investors worldwide.
Kwon, along with another South Korean, was detained in Montenegro while attempting to travel to Dubai with forged Costa Rican passports. He has already served time in Montenegro for the use of these counterfeit documents.
Kwon and five other associates of Terraform Labs are wanted for their alleged roles in the financial collapse of the company’s digital assets in May 2022. The company’s stablecoin, TerraUSD, was designed to maintain its value by being pegged to stable assets such as the dollar. However, it dramatically devalued, erasing approximately $40 billion in market value for holders of TerraUSD and its sister currency, Luna.
As the legal saga continues, the focus now shifts to the logistics and timing of Kwon’s extradition to South Korea, where he will face further legal proceedings.
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