Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon will be extradited to the United States to face criminal charges, nearly a year after he was arrested in Montenegro. Both the United States and South Korea have submitted extradition requests to Montenegrin authorities. On February 21, the High Court in Podgorica, Montenegro, ruled that Do Kwon would be extradited to the United States, rejecting an extradition request from South Korea.
The move comes after Kwon’s legal team recently won an appeal to overturn the High Court’s decision in favor of the US and South Korean extradition requests. Kwon was arrested by Montenegrin authorities in March 2023 while attempting to flee to another country on a fake passport and was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Terraform Labs and Kwon of “orchestrating a multibillion-dollar securities fraud involving an algorithmic stablecoin and other digital assets” after the #UST crash in 2022, resulting in significant losses for investors.
In January 2024, the SEC agreed to delay the trial date for the Terraform case, as requested by Kwon’s legal team, who said they wanted their client to attend in person. It is unclear when Kwon will be transferred to the United States. Meanwhile, former Terraform Labs CFO Han Chang-joon, who was arrested alongside Kwon, has been extradited to South Korea.
