A court in Montenegro has approved extradition of Do Kwon, the cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind the crash of two digital currencies (TerraUSD and Luna), to either South Korea or the US.Kwon was arrested in the country in March after being caught at the airport with fake documents.
The final decision on the extradition will be made by the Montenegrin Justice Minister, after Kwon serves a four-month prison sentence in Montenegro for document forgery, reports CoinDesk.Kwon faces multiple counts of fraud charged by US federal prosecutors, in addition to an ongoing investigation in South Korea.
Kwon, 32, who was behind cryptocurrencies that suffered a multi-billion dollar crash last year, and his chief financial officer, identified only by his surname Han, were arrested at Podgorica Airport on March 23 after attempting to travel to Dubai with forged passports.
In June, a Montenegro court sentenced Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, and his aide to four months in prison on charges of using fake passports.The duo had been on the run after fleeing South Korea while under a probe in connection with the crash of Terraform Labs' TerraUSD and Luna coins, which wiped out nearly 50 trillion won ($38 billion) in market value.
South Korean prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Kwon over allegations that included providing false information to investors and violation of the capital market law.Interpol also issued a red notice, used for the highest level of wanted suspects and criminals. Kwon's passport has since been invalidated.
TerraUSD was designed as a stablecoin, which was pegged to stable assets, like the US dollar. But holders of TerraUSD and Luna lost more than an estimated $40 billion in market value after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg last May.