Do Kwon to Be Extradited to South Korea—This Time for Real

Disgraced tech entrepreneur and Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon will be extradited to his home country of Korea, a Montenegro court ruled Wednesday. 

Both American and South Korean authorities charged Do Kwon with violating capital markets rules. Both jurisdictions had requested his extradition, but Do Kwon had previously successfully appealed a decision to extradite him to the U.S. 

Do Kwon founded Terra, a massive crypto ecosystem with many apps largely focused on algorithmic stablecoins.

It was hugely popular in the world of DeFi and was the second-biggest blockchain in the sphere after Ethereum. Its native cryptocurrency, LUNA, was in its prime as one of the top digital assets by market cap. 

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But in May 2022, Terra collapsed—wiping out $40 billion in investors’ money and leading to a brutal bear market. Many crypto projects with exposure to the project later declared bankruptcy.

American and South Korean authorities have since hit Do Kwon with a litany of charges.

He was arrested last year for allegedly attempting to travel on a fake passport.

This is only the latest chapter in the unfolding saga of Do Kwon’s travel—elective and compulsory. The crypto shitposter has been the subject of a jurisdictional battle between the two countries as he faces charges in both.

After Montenegro approved his extradition to the U.S. in November, his legal team was able to keep him in the country. And when he was first sought for prosecution in and by South Korea, the U.S. was expected to fight that move.

If Do Kwon is guilty, though, he faces serious jail time: Dan Sunghan, the financial crime investigation bureau at the Seoul Southern District Prosecution, said in a Bloomberg interview last year that he could spend over four decades behind bars—in America and his native Korea.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.