Terraform Labs Creator Do Kwon Will Be Extradited to the U.S., Montenegrin Justice Minister Says

The U.S. and South Korean governments have both sought to take custody of Kwon to face criminal charges related to the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin Terra/Luna system in 2022.

Terraform Labs creator Do Kwon will be extradited to the United States, Montenegrin Justice Minister Bojan Božović announced Friday.

Both the U.S. and South Korean governments have sought to obtain custody of Kwon, who is wanted on criminal charges related to the spectacular 2022 collapse of the Terra/Luna algorithmic stablecoin system, which triggered a chain of high-profile bankruptcies, including that of FTX.

Kwon, who was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 and sentenced to a few months in prison for passport forgery, has been fighting his extradition to the U.S. for over a year. Several courts in the country have ruled in favor of either the U.S. or South Korea obtaining custody of the former crypto executive.

In his statement Friday, Božović said his decision followed a ruling by the country's Supreme Court that the conditions for approving an extradition had been met.

“Having regard to the verdict of the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice considered all the facts and circumstances and assessed criteria such as the gravity of the criminal acts, the place of execution, the order of submission of the request, the citizenship of the requested person, the possibility of further extradition to another country, as well as other circumstances,” the statement said.

The U.S. bid met these criteria, the statement said.

Friday's announcement is the latest in a series of back-and-forth decisions on where Kwon should be sent. The Appellate Court of Montenegro ruled in August this year that Kwon should be extradited to South Korea.

The legal fallout from Terra's collapse continues in the U.S. as well; last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges with Tai Mo Shan, a subsidiary of Jump Crypto, over allegations that Tai Mo Shan sold LUNA as a security. The company will pay $123 million as part of the settlement.

Editor's note: The Montenegrin government's statement was translated into English.