South Korean cryptocurrency specialist Do Kwon will be extradited to the United States, Montenegro said on Friday (Dec 27). He is the primary accused in the collapse of two digital tokens - TerraUSD and Luna. Do Kwon is also wanted by Seoul for the multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy of his company, Terraform Labs.

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Both US and South Korea have been seeking Kwon's extradition for months. He is accused of committing fraud leading to the failure of the company behind the tokens that caused the loss of around $40 billion of investor money. His fall also jolted the crypto market.

The decision brings to an end an over 18-month-long court battle as Montenegro does not have extradition treaties with the US or South Korea.

The court said that Kwon "personally consented to expedited extradition to both the Republic of South Korea and the United States".

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But Do Kwon's lawyers say that the decision goes against European conventions on extradition. They are planning to appeal to the country's constitutional court and to the European Court of Human Rights.

Also Read: North Korean cyber actors behind $308 million cryptocurrency heist, say US and Japan

The justice ministry said that Justice Minister Bojan Bozovic "issued a decision approving the extradition of the accused, Kwon Do Hyung, to the United States of America."

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"It was concluded that the majority of the criteria prescribed by law favour the extradition request from the competent authorities of the United States of America," the statement said.

Do Kwon was on the run for months before he was arrested in March 2023 at the airport in Montenegrin capital Podgorica while trying to board a flight to Dubai. He was found in possession of a fake Costa Rican passport.

He first fled to South Korea and later to Singapore before his business crashed and his company went bankrupt in 2022. He fled to Serbia before being picked up in Montenegro.

Who is Do Kwon and what did he do?


Do Kwon's company Terraform Labs created a cryptocurrency called TerraUSD. It was marketed as a "stablecoin", a token looked at as one that can stabilise assets such as the US dollar to prevent drastic fluctuations.

He was able to successfully market the cryptocurrency as the next big thing in the crypto world and attracted billions in investments and global hype. South Korean media called him a "genius".

However, TerraUSD and its sister token Luna went downwards in May 2022. According to experts, it was a glorified Ponzi scheme that led to several people losing their life savings.

In January, Terraform Labs filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. This would mean that Terraform could "execute on its business plan while navigating ongoing legal proceedings, including representative litigation pending in Singapore and US litigation involving the Securities and Exchange Commission", as per a company statement.

It said it also intended to "meet all financial obligations to employees and vendors".

(With inputs from agencies)