Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, the incubator of TerraUSD (CRYPTO: USTC) and Luna (CRYPTO: LUNC), is set to face criminal fraud charges in a U.S. court following his extradition from Montenegro.
What Happened: Kwon is expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Lehrburger in a Manhattan federal court on Thursday afternoon, according to the South China Morning Post.
Kwon has been charged with multiple counts of commodities fraud, conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud related to the collapse Luna and TerraUSD in 2022, which resulted in an estimated $40 billion loss.
Why It Matters: The extradition marks the end of a prolonged legal battle involving competing requests from the U.S. and South Korea.
Montenegro Minister of Justice Bojan Božović ultimately authorized Kwon’s transfer to the U.S., citing factors such as the gravity of the alleged offenses and the sequence of extradition requests.
Kwon agreed to pay an $80 million civil fine in June 2024, having been banned from cryptocurrency transactions as part of a $4.55 billion settlement with the SEC.
He has denied any wrongdoing related to the charges.
The case has drawn significant attention in the crypto world, with the TerraUSD token experiencing a 4% surge following news of Kwon’s extradition.
Kwon’s legal troubles follow other high-profile, such as Sam Bankman-Fried‘s conviction and sentencing, and Alex Mashinsky‘s guilty plea related to the Celsius Network collapse.
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