Terra Appoints Chris Amani as CEO Amid Co-Founder Do Kwon’s Legal Troubles

Terra Appoints Chris Amani as CEO Amid Co-Founder Do Kwon’s Legal Troubles

Chris Amani, who has been a part of Terra since 2021, has taken on the role of CEO for the company in recent months.

In the midst of co-founder Do Kwon’s legal challenges, which could potentially lead to his extradition to South Korea or the United States from Montenegro, Terra has made the decision to appoint a new CEO. Despite the situation, Kwon still remains the principal shareholder of the company.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Chris Amani, a U.S. citizen, has been chosen as Terra’s new CEO. Amani’s journey with Terra began in 2021, where he held key positions as the chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Prior to his tenure at Terra, he served as the CEO of the scheduling solution provider, Humanity. According to Amani’s LinkedIn profile, he officially assumed the role of Terra’s CEO in April 2023.

In light of recent events, Amani conveyed to journalists that the company does not have any plans to launch stablecoins, and instead, they will be focusing on other products and initiatives:

“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.”

Amani also expressed his hope that Do Kwon would be able to clear himself of all charges. In the meantime, Terra will continue its operations without Kwon’s direct involvement.

The tumultuous events of May 2022 saw the collapse of Terra, resulting in a ripple effect that caused turmoil in the crypto market. The platform’s stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST), lost its peg to the U.S. dollar, prompting investigations into potential illicit activities involving Kwon and co-founder Daniel Shin during the collapse.

Subsequently, in March 2023, Do Kwon was arrested in Montenegro on charges of using forged travel documents. He received a four-month prison sentence, but his legal woes are far from over, as he faces the possibility of extradition to either the U.S. or South Korea once his sentence concludes. In 2022, South Korean prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Kwon, accusing him of violating the country’s capital markets laws.

As the legal situation unfolds, Terra aims to navigate the challenges under the leadership of its new CEO, Chris Amani.