Former crypto executive Do Kwon pleads not guilty to U.S. fraud charges

South Korean entrepreneur was extradited from Montenegro days earlier

Do Kwon was extradited to the U.S. in late December 2024 after having been detained in Montenegro since March 2023. © Reuters

January 3, 2025 03:42 JST

Updated on January 3, 2025 04:49 JST

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Do Kwon, the South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated $40 billion in 2022, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to U.S. criminal fraud charges after being extradited from Montenegro this week.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Thursday unsealed a nine-count indictment charging Kwon, who co-founded Singapore-based Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, with securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering conspiracy.