Montenegro court authorizes extradition of cryptocurrency kingpin Do Kwon.

The court in Montenegro said Friday it had approved the extradition of cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon and left it up to South Korea or the United States, each of which claims him. Do Kwon, who is accused in the U.S. of large-scale fraud worth billions of dollars, and an ally were sentenced in June to four months in prison for using fake passports.

At a hearing in May, the defendants denied the charges brought by the Montenegrin prosecutor. Kwon's attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment when''collapses in May 2022, shaking cryptocurrency markets.

He was detained in late March along with Han Chang-Joon, the former CFO of Terraform Labs, as they tried to board a flight to Dubai from Podgorica.

After Kwon's arrest, a federal court in Manhattan, USA, issued an eight-count indictment against him on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities exchange fraud and conspiracy.

In late May, a Montenegrin court revoked bail of 800,000 euros for both men, saying it could not be considered reliable collateral, nor could their promise not to abscond after their release from custody.