Crypto fugitive Do Kwon placed in Serbia by South Korea: Reports

SEOUL - Crypto fugitive Do Kwon’s location is becoming clearer following reports placing him in Serbia.

The South Korean authorities believe the progenitor of the TerraUSD and Luna digital-asset ecosystem – which suffered a

chaotic US$60 billion (S$81 billion) wipe-out

– is staying in the landlocked Balkan nation, the Chosun Ilbo paper said on Monday.

The report said South Korea is in the process of requesting cooperation from Serbia. The story cited an anonymous source at an investigative authority in the East Asian country.

The Yonhap news agency said Kwon moved to Serbia in November, citing an unnamed official at the prosecutors’ office in Seoul.

The TerraUSD stablecoin was meant to have a constant US$1 value via a mix of algorithms and trader incentives involving sister token Luna. The edifice blew up in May, exacerbating a deep crypto market rout and contributing to the downfall of a range of digital asset outfits.

Kwon’s location has been unclear since South Korea in mid-September

issued a warrant for his arrest

on charges including breaches of capital markets law. South Korea has said Kwon is the subject of an Interpol red notice.

The 31-year-old has denied wrongdoing and his Terraform Labs has argued capital markets legislation does not apply to crypto tokens.

Neither Kwon nor a Terraform Labs spokesman immediately replied to a request for comment.

Exactly what sparked the implosion of Kwon’s project remains something of a mystery.

The US authorities are probing possible links to Mr Sam Bankman-Fried, whose FTX exchange and sister trading house Alameda Research

spiralled into bankruptcy in November.

The New York Times has reported that US federal prosecutors are examining whether Mr Bankman-Fried engaged in market manipulation by orchestrating trades that led to the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna.
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