New Terra CEO Appointed Amid Legal Troubles

Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, was arrested in Montenegro and faces potential extradition to South Korea or the United States. As a result, the company has appointed a new CEO.

Kwon continues to be Terra’s principal shareholder. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chris Amani is the new CEO of Terra. Amani has served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer for Terra since 2021.

Before that, he was the CEO of the provider of scheduling solutions, Humanity. According to his LinkedIn profile, Amani has been the CEO of Terra since April 2023.

Amani informed reporters that the company has no plans to launch stablecoins and will instead concentrate on other products.

“We have a vision for how we could salvage this, even though I think it’s going to be hard and it’s going to take a long time.”

The executive also expressed optimism that Do Kwon would be exonerated of all charges, though Terra will continue to operate without him for the time being.

In May 2022, the demise of Terra triggered a chain reaction that caused the crypto market to crash. TerraUSD (UST), the platform’s stablecoin, lost its anchor to the U.S. dollar, prompting investigations into Kwon and co-founder Daniel Shin’s possible involvement in illicit transactions during the collapse.

Do Kwon was detained in Montenegro in March 2023 for allegedly using forged travel documents.

He was sentenced to four months in prison, but he also faces the possibility of extradition to either the United States or South Korea.

In 2022 Prosecutors in South Korea issue an arrest warrant for Kwon, alleging he violated the nation’s capital markets laws.