The Montenegro supreme court authorized the extradition of Do Kwon; HTX crypto exchange restores bitcoin services after $30 million attack; Circle and SBI Holdings partner to increase USDC adoption in Japan
The Montenegro supreme court authorized the extradition of Do Kwon
Montenegro’s supreme court has authorized the extradition of Do Kwon, who is wanted in South Korea and the US on fraud charges.
The final decision on which country Kwon will be extradited to will be made by the country’s justice minister, Bloomberg reported.
In a statement to TV Vijesti, Justice Minister Andrej Milovic refused to say to which country Kwon is planned to be extradited. However, he did not neglect to give a small hint.
Milovic said in an interview:
“The United States is our main foreign policy partner. We want to sign a bilateral agreement on extradition as soon as possible in order to have a legal framework for extradition in the future.”
Terraform Labs co-founder Kwon and the company’s former chief financial officer Han Chang-joon were arrested in Podgorica, Montenegro, last March after months on the run. The two were about to board a private jet to Dubai.
Kwon and Chang-joon were sentenced to four months in prison for using false passports.
US prosecutors charged Kwon with fraud following the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin UST in May 2022. Following the collapse, $40 billion in assets were wiped off the market in an instant.
Kwon faced similar accusations in South Korea.
The massive collapse of UST and LUNA also dragged cryptocurrencies into a deep crisis. The major collapse in the Terra ecosystem also paved the way for hedge funds such as Three Arrows Capital to go bankrupt.
HTX crypto exchange restores Bitcoin services after $30 million attack
Justin Sun said he expects to gradually restore functionality for other cryptocurrencies and return to full services next week.
Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals have returned to Justin Sun-linked crypto exchange HTX, formerly Huobi, after it was hit by a $30 million attack on 22 November.
HTX said in a blog post on 26 November that deposit and withdrawal functionality had returned for multiple currencies, including BTC, Ether and Tether.
Justin Sun later said in a post on X (Twitter) that HTX aims to gradually restore functionality for the remaining cryptocurrencies and expects to do so “by next week”.
HTX’s exchange hot wallets were emptied of $30 million in one of four attacks on Sun-linked or controlled crypto platforms in half a month.
The HTX Eco (HECO) chain bridge – consisting of HTX, Tron and BitTorrent, all linked to or controlled by Sun – was hit for $86.6 million on the same day as HTX.
Sun-owned crypto exchange Poloniex also suffered a $100 million attack on 10 November, which blockchain security firm CertiK said was likely due to the compromise of a private key.
Shortly after Huobi rebranded as HTX, an attacker stole around $8 million in crypto from the exchange’s hot wallet on 24 September.
Circle and SBI Holdings partner to increase USDC adoption in Japan
Circle, the stablecoin issuer behind USD Coin (USDC), is partnering with Tokyo-based financial services firm SBI Holdings to increase adoption of USDC and Web3 services in Japan.
Circle announced on 27th November that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SBI Holdings that will support USDC’s strategic expansion into Japan.
The agreement comes after the Japanese government revised the Payment Services Act in June, introducing regulations for stablecoins that Circle believes will “promote the issuance and circulation of stablecoins in Japan and advance Japan’s transition to the Web3 economy”.
To initiate the circulation of USDC in Japan, SBI Holdings is seeking registration as an electronic payment service, subject to approval by the Japanese authorities.
SBI Holdings CEO and President Yoshitaka Kitao hopes this will be a step towards mass adoption of stablecoins in the country.
Circle CEO Jeremey Allaire added that the partnership “represents a shared vision for the future of digital currency” in Japan and Asia, and is a “milestone” for Circle as part of its plan to expand into the region.
According to Circle, SBI Shinsei Bank, a subsidiary of SBI, will provide banking services to Circle to enable USDC access and liquidity for Japan-based businesses and users.
In August, Allaire said that although Circle is based in the US, 70% of USDC adoption is taking place overseas, with Asia leading the way.
The Circle boss added that “demand for secure, transparent digital dollars” was also strong in Latin America and Africa.
USDC is currently the second largest stablecoin behind Tether (USDT), with a market cap of $24.6 billion, according to CoinGecko.