Kwon, the South Korean developer of TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies, was believed by authorities to be on the run after his home country issued an arrest warrant for him in September. At the time, Kwan denied in a tweet that he was a fugitive. But since then his Twitter account has gone silent.
But Jupiter brought new details about his whereabouts. Montenegro’s interior ministry said it had “captured” Kwan and brought him and a South Korean national to a prosecutor’s office in the capital on charges of document forgery. South Korea has reportedly asked Interpol to issue a “red notice” to allow other countries to temporarily arrest Kwan.
Kwon’s arrest comes as the cryptocurrency market continues to suffer. Its boom started beating Luna’s crash last spring sparked broader crypto market turmoil that saw the collapse of other institutions. The so-called “crypto winter” deepened in November when crypto exchange FTX went bankrupt, with founder Sam Bankman-Fried later accused of fraud.
Since then, other companies and crypto boosters have faced regulatory pressure, including crypto exchange Kraken, which in February agreed to stop selling some assets and pay a fine. $30 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On Wednesday, meanwhile, the SEC filed complaints against eight celebrities, including professional boxer Jake Paul and actress Lindsay Lohan, alleging they failed to disclose compensation for promotions.
Both Terra and Luna rose in value among crypto enthusiasts before collapsing late last year. Investors have claimed that Guan misled them in promoting the coins.
Before the accident, Kwon was well-respected, while his fans called themselves “crazies”. He graduated from Stanford University and worked briefly at Apple before founding several crypto projects, including Luna.
Kwon’s case is being watched closely as governments around the world weigh how to investigate cases involving cryptocurrency and how aggressively to pursue the entrepreneurs behind the coins. Among them is FTX founder Bankman-Fried, who has pending civil and criminal charges brought against him by government agencies.
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