Montenegro court approves extradition of cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon to native South Korea

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — A Montenegrin appeals court on Thursday upheld a ruling by a lower court to hand over a South Korean mogul known as “the cryptocurrency king” to his native country, rejecting a bid to extradite him to the United States.

The move follows a months-long legal saga in the case of Do Kwon, the Terraform Labs founder who was arrested in Montenegro last year.

Both South Korea and the U.S. had requested Do Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro.

Various Montenegrin courts in the past months have brought and overturned multiple rulings to extradite Kwon either to U.S. or South Korea. The Montenegrin Appeals Court said on Thursday its decision is legally binding.

It was not immediately clear when Kwon could be extradited.

Kwon was charged in the U.S. with fraud by federal prosecutors in New York over a $40 billion crash of Terraform Labs’ cryptocurrency, which devastated retail investors around the world.

Kwon and another South Korean were arrested in Montenegro while trying to depart for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, using fake Costa Rican passports. He has served a prison term in Montenegro for using a fake passport.

Kwon and five others connected to Terraform had been wanted on allegations of fraud and financial crimes in relation to the implosion of its digital currencies in May 2022.

TerraUSD was designed as a “stablecoin,” a currency which is pegged to stable assets like the dollar to prevent drastic fluctuations in prices. However, around $40 billion in market value was erased for the holders of TerraUSD and its floating sister currency, Luna, after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg.