XRP Coin Trading Volume on Upbit Tops the List, as South Korean “Crypto Crash King” Heads to the US

Cryptocurrencies have become popular investments among South Korea’s younger generations. In general, they see them as an alternative path to financial security

Cryptocurrency companies in South Korea are also attracting attention. As it is known, despite billions of investments, TerraUSD and Luna entered a death spiral in May 2022. It triggered a sell-off in other major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. In September 2022, Interpol issued a “red notice” warrant for Kwon’s arrest. He was in Singapore before his business collapsed and fled to Serbia before being caught in Montenegro. Kwon was arrested in March 2023 at Podgorica Airport in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, while trying to board a flight to Dubai. In June 2023, he was convicted of forgery of an official document in Montenegro and sentenced to four months in prison. Hon Chang-joon, the former chief financial officer of Terraform Labs, was extradited to South Korea in February after serving four months in prison in Montenegro on fraud charges.

Now, South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon has been extradited from Montenegro to the US over the collapse of two tokens (TerraUSD and Luna tokens). The US and South Korea have been seeking Kwon’s extradition for months, claiming that fraud led to the failure of the company behind the tokens, which sank nearly $40 billion from investors and shook the global crypto markets. Montenegro does not have an extradition treaty with the US or South Korea. Therefore, the matter had to be handled in the courts. The ruling brings to an end more than 18 months of judgments and reversals. Kwon had reportedly consented to extradition to both South Korea and the United States.