A claim by Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon was dismissed by Montenegro’s Constitutional Court, and now the country’s justice minister will decide if he will be extradited to the US or South Korea, reports the Korea JoongAng Daily.
Kwon’s ruling is a critical piece in the long legal drama around the former crypto space CEO, whose Terra blockchain network and associated tokens TerraUSD (UST) and Luna imploded in May last year, wiping out $60 billion in investor wealth.
Montenegro Court Rejects Do Kwon’s Appeal Decision
The US also wants him, while South Korea also wants him. He is charged in the United States with a role in the implosion of his algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD that ripped through the cryptocurrency sector. He is also wanted by authorities in South Korea for separate legal violations.
When Kwon planned to board a private flight to the United Arab Emirates using forged travel documents, the police arrested him in Montenegro in March 2023. But his appeal to Montenegro’s Constitutional Court lost, leaving his fate now in the hands of Montenegro’s justice minister.
Kwon’s reputation was glimmering once prior despite the catastrophic collapse of the Terra ecosystem, once celebrated for his ambitions around algorithmic stablecoins. Just months after the crypto market reached its peak in late 2021, the failure shattered retail and institutional investors alike.
The fallout spread through the industry, bringing on liquidity crises and bankruptcies for firms such as Three Arrows Capital, FTX, and Kwon, who ostensibly even evaded authorities as he boarded Europe. This latest global manhunt for his whereabouts intensified when Interpol issued a wanted warrant then, following his arrest in Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital.
The company, Terraform Labs, also faces extradition and criminal charges and agreed to pay out $4.47 billion in a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after it was found guilty of defrauding crypto investors. It is the largest settlement in the history of cryptocurrency enforcement actions.
The justice minister of Montenegro will now decide which of the two extradition requests from the US and South Korea to be given the go-ahead. Kwon’s fate will be decided after the outcome, and where he is detained will be where Kwon is tried over his alleged part in one of cryptocurrency’s largest meltdowns.
The latest comes as Kwon’s legal battle remains a high-stakes effort to set precedents that could impact how cross-border enforcement plays out in the digital asset industry.
