Since 2020, officials have promoted Montenegro as an innovation-friendly, open-to-new-technologies country, with crypto often framed as a way to attract investment and project a modern financial image. But, since 2023, public debate has shifted sharply away from economic promise and towards the risks of money laundering, regulatory gaps and weak institutional oversight.

The Do Kwon case was the turning point. The South Korean cryptocurrency founder’s arrest in Montenegro in March 2023, followed by a 15-year prison sentence in the United States in December 2025 in connection with a $40 billion fraud case, reframed crypto from a story of opportunity into a test of institutional credibility.

Yet, even in late 2025, parts…