Terra Founder Do Kwon Avoids Extradition to US—For Now

Alleged crypto crook Do Kwon may not be extradited to the United States—yet. A Tuesday notice by a Montenegro court ordered a review of the Terra founder’s extradition.

The decision to delay the extradition comes after Do Kwon’s defense filed a complaint. Last month, a court approved the disgraced entrepreneur’s extradition.

He will now wait in Montenegro until the court completes the review.

The South Korean crypto mogul was arrested earlier this year for allegedly attempting to travel on a fake passport.

Do Kwon founded Terraform Labs, the company behind the once massively popular Terra blockchain protocol.

The project focused on algorithmic stablecoins. Its native cryptocurrency, LUNA, was in its prime as one of the top digital assets by market cap.

But in May 2022, Terra collapsed —and contributed to a brutal bear market, which led many crypto projects with exposure to the project to declare bankruptcy.

American and South Korean authorities have hit Do Kwon with charges, including violating capital markets rules.

If convicted, he faces serious jail time: Dan Sunghan, the financial crime investigation bureau at the Seoul Southern District Prosecution, said in a BNN Bloomberg interview that Do Kwon could spend over four decades behind bars—in both the U.S. and South Korea.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at the start of the year also charged Do Kwon with “orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.” That means he could also be on the hook for disgorgement and multi-million dollar fines.