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

PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO (AP) — An appeals court in Montenegro on Thursday upheld a lower court’s decision to extradite a South Korean businessman known as the “cryptocurrency king” and rejected a bid to extradite him to the United States.

The decision comes after months of legal proceedings in the case of Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon, who was arrested in Montenegro last year.

Both South Korea and the United States had requested Do Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro.

Various Montenegrin courts have overturned multiple decisions in recent months to extradite Kwon to the United States or South Korea. Montenegro’s Court of Appeals said on Thursday its decision was legally binding.

It is not yet clear when Kwon may be extradited.

Kwon was charged in the United States with fraud by federal prosecutors in New York in connection with the $40 billion collapse of Terraform Labs’ cryptocurrency holdings, which negatively impacted retail investors worldwide.

Kwon and another South Korean were arrested in Montenegro while trying to travel to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, using fake Costa Rican passports. He was sentenced to prison in Montenegro for using fake passports.

Kwon and five others linked to Terraform were wanted on allegations of fraud and financial crimes related to the collapse of the company’s digital currency holdings in May 2022.

TerraUSD was designed as a “stable coin,” a currency pegged to stable assets like the dollar to prevent sudden swings in price. However, around $40 billion in market value was wiped out for holders of TerraUSD and its volatile sister currency Luna after the stablecoin fell far below its $1 peg.

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