According to the latest report from Bloomberg, Do Kwon, the co-founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency company Terraform Labs, will be extradited to the United States to face federal fraud charges. The international police agency Interpol issued a red notice for Kwon as early as September 2022. By March 2023, he was arrested in Montenegro while fleeing to Serbia, and recently, the Montenegrin Ministry of Justice officially announced his extradition to the U.S.
2022 was a nightmare for investors in the crypto world, thanks to the epic crash of the stablecoin TerraUSD and its sibling token Luna—a debacle led by none other than Do Kwon. This digital disaster wiped out a staggering $40 billion of investor money, sparking a flurry of finger-pointing and legal actions from the U.S. and South Korea. Both countries have spent months breathing down the necks of Montenegrin authorities, pushing for Kwon’s extradition. Montenegro’s Justice Department recently indicated that most legal thumbs-ups are pointing towards sending Kwon to the U.S., though the exact date he’ll catch his transatlantic flight remains under wraps.
It’s still up in the air whether this decision is the final word, as Montenegro made moves to extradite him to South Korea back in August. The feds in New York had already slammed Kwon Do-hyung with a slew of charges last year, including telecommunication fraud and market manipulation. Moreover, this June, Terraform Labs and Kwon agreed to fork over a jaw-dropping $4.5 billion to settle another lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The upcoming legal proceedings, set against a backdrop of high-tech finesses, are once again throwing the spotlight on the cryptocurrency industry and market manipulations. It’s making us ponder the potential dark side hidden behind the tech glam.
