Catenaa, Wednesday, January 01, 2025-Montenegro has officially extradited Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon to the United States, where he faces criminal charges tied to the catastrophic collapse of the Terra Luna cryptocurrency ecosystem, news reports said.
The handover was confirmed Tuesday by Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, who emphasized the country’s zero-tolerance stance on fraud.
Kwon, arrested in March 2023 for using falsified travel documents in Montenegro, was handed over at Podgorica Airport by Interpol and Montenegrin officials. While his exact US detention location remains undisclosed, the move follows months of international wrangling over his extradition, with South Korea also vying to prosecute him.
The Terra Luna collapse in May 2022 erased over $40 billion in cryptocurrency value, triggering financial ruin for many investors. Kwon, accused of orchestrating the fraudulent scheme, faces eight criminal charges in the US, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, and wire fraud.
Despite claiming he was cooperating with authorities during a global manhunt, Kwon’s arrest in Montenegro brought an end to his months-long evasion.
Kwon’s legal woes in the US include a 2023 SEC lawsuit accusing him and Terraform Labs of defrauding investors. The case ended in a $4.5 billion settlement in June 2024.
The extradition is a significant milestone in the international pursuit of accountability for the crypto market’s most infamous collapse.
