The authorized saga surrounding Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon is taking one other pivotal flip because the US Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) prepares to begin its civil trial in opposition to him on March 25, regardless of his possible absence attributable to extradition delays from Montenegro.
This trial stems from fees associated to the catastrophic collapse of TerraUSD (UST) and Luna (LUNA) cryptocurrencies in Could 2022, an occasion that erased roughly $40 billion from the cryptocurrency markets.
Do Kwon Continues To Oppose Extradition To The US
David Patton, Do Kwon’s lawyer, confirmed to Reuters that his shopper wouldn’t request a postponement of the trial, signaling Kwon’s intent to face the SEC’s fraud fees head-on, no matter his extradition standing. “Kwon will not seek to adjourn the trial date, regardless of when he is ultimately extradited,” Patton said, indicating a resolve to proceed with the authorized course of.
The SEC’s litigation accuses Terraform Labs and Kwon of deceiving buyers about UST’s stability, a stablecoin ostensibly pegged to keep up a $1 worth, and misrepresenting the usage of the Terraform blockchain for transactions in a distinguished Korean cell cost app.
Complicating Do Kwon’s authorized battles are further US prison fees, with Kwon having been in custody in Montenegro since March 2023. In December 2023, US District Decide Jed Rakoff found that Terraform Labs and Kwon had breached US securities legal guidelines by failing to register UST and LUNA.
This authorized dedication provides one other layer of complexity to the SEC’s case in opposition to Kwon, who has constantly maintained his innocence. Furthermore, a Montenegrin court docket just lately favored his extradition to america over South Korea, Kwon’s most well-liked vacation spot.
Kwon’s native counsel, Goran Rodic, criticized the court docket’s determination, citing “erroneous” data concerning the sequence of extradition requests and noting “numerous unanticipated mistakes by the lower courts” within the Montenegrin proceedings which have protracted Kwon’s extradition timeline.
Simply yesterday, a report surfaced that Marija Rakovic, a public data officer at Montenegro’s Podgorica Excessive Courtroom, has hinted that its determination on Do Kwon’s extradition to america may very well be overturned by an appeals court docket once more. She famous previous precedents the place extradition selections have been reversed, as Bitcoinist reported.
At press time, Terra Luna Basic (LUNC) traded at $0.000133022.
Featured picture from CNN, chart from TradingView.com
