Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has requested the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to postpone his trial date until March, citing extradition challenges in Montenegro as the reason for seeking the delay.

In a letter dated Jan. 11 addressed to Judge Jed Rakoff, Kwon’s legal team emphasized his interest in attending the trial personally, which is scheduled for Jan. 29. However, they had anticipated that Kwon would have already been permitted to return to the U.S. by now:

“Mr. Kwon wishes to attend his trial. Counsel had hoped the extradition proceedings in Montenegro would proceed more quickly than they have.”

In February 2023, the SEC filed fraud charges against Kwon, accusing him of having a role in orchestrating a multibillion-dollar crypto securities fraud. 

The charges were related to the collapse of Terraform Labs’ stablecoin TerraUSD (USTC) and its associated Terra (LUNA) token.

While recognizing the urgency of the trial, Kwon’s legal team indicated that this month’s trial date would not be feasible for him to attend.

“We understand the Court cannot put the trial on hold indefinitely, but an adjournment until mid-March would provide a realistic possibility for Mr. Kwon to attend,” the letter stated.

In December 2023, Cointelegraph reported that the Appellate Court of Montenegro ruled to annul the decision of the High Court of Podgorica decision, which approved Kwon’s extradition to either the U.S. or South Korea.

This follows reports only a week earlier that U.S. and South Korean authorities were requesting that Kwon be held for an additional two months following the conclusion of his sentence.

Both the U.S. and South Korea are seeking Kwon’s extradition. There has been mounting speculation that Kwon could be subject to multiple sentences in both countries.

Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 after attempting to use falsified travel documents to leave the country.