Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon is escorted by police officers in Podgorica, Montenegro, March 23, after he served a sentence for document forgery. Reuters-Yonhap

Disgraced crypto tycoon Do Kwon, a key figure related to the 2022 collapse of TerraUSD and Luna coins, has been extradited to the United States, where he will face federal fraud charges.

The government of Montenegro announced on Tuesday (local time) that the extradition procedure of Kwon to the U.S. FBI was completed at Podgorica International Airport.

This marks one year and nine months since the 33-year-old Korean national was arrested at the same airport on March 23, 2023.

Federal prosecutors in New York indicted Kwon on multiple charges, including securities fraud, wire fraud, commodity fraud and conspiracy to manipulate market prices, shortly after his arrest in Montenegro.

Since criminal trials require the defendant's direct attendance, no further proceedings had taken place following the indictment.

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon, center, is handed over to the U.S. authorities in Montenegro, Tuesday, in this photo provided by the Montenegrin police agency. Yonhap

Kwon, whose full name is Kwon Do-hyung, is the co-founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency firm Terraform Labs, the company behind TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister token Luna, which garnered significant attention before crashing in 2022.

Kwon is accused of deceiving investors regarding blockchain technology and spreading false information through TV interviews and social media. He is also facing charges of conspiring with a U.S. investment firm to manipulate the market price of Terra.

The global financial damage caused by the coins' massive crash was estimated to exceed 50 trillion won ($34 billion).

After the incident, Kwon fled Korea and went into hiding in locations such as Singapore and Dubai before being arrested in Montenegro on charges of possessing a forged passport. Upon his arrest, both Korea and the U.S. simultaneously requested his extradition, leading to fierce competition between the two countries to secure his custody.

If Kwon is convicted in New York, it is expected that he could face a lengthy prison sentence along with the seizure of an astronomical amount of assets.

While Korea's maximum sentence for economic crimes is around 40 years in prison, the U.S. adopts a "stacking" system, where sentences for individual crimes are added together, meaning that theoretically, a sentence of over 100 years could be possible for Kwon.

However, given the flexibility of U.S. federal sentencing guidelines, the actual sentence could vary, widely depending on the specifics of the case.

Before his criminal trial, Kwon had already lost a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), agreeing to pay $4.47 billion in restitution and fines.

The SEC filed a civil lawsuit, alleging that Kwon and Terraform Labs deceived investors regarding the stability of Terra, leading to significant investment losses.

This lawsuit was separate from the criminal trial filed against Kwon, and the proceedings were conducted without his direct attendance.