Virgil Griffith violated US sanctions on North Korea by participating in an event. He got sentenced to a 5-year sentence and a fine of USD 100,000.
Virgil Griffith, the developer of Ethereum, received a sentence of at least 63 months in prison in the United States of America for having infringed government punishments applied to North Korea by educating about digital currencies in that nation.
The Asian country is one of the most prominent political adversaries of the United States of America. Justice firmly thinks that the specialist exclusively traveled to encourage procedures that can help nations avoid sanctions.
The sentence against this computer expert came from Judge Kevin Castel, of Manhattan, in the southern district of New York. In addition to suspending his liberty, the magistrate decided to charge him at least USD 100,000 for playing a significant role in training activities on technology and digital assets in the Asian nation.
Griffith and his defense fought to achieve at least a 24-month sentence at trial. However, it ended up facing the sentence the American authorities applied. The entire process got observed through Twitter in real-time, hosted by the Inner City Press.
Judge Castel assured during the trial that it was unreal that Mr. Griffith had to get prosecuted for encouraging digital assets. The case was about a violation of sanctions applied to avoid military clashes between nations. In addition, he assured that Griffith has no ideologies or preferences for the United States of America or North Korea.
However, Griffith’s past public statements appeared to highlight otherwise since, on his LinkedIn profile, the expert shows himself as a “scientific researcher” with expertise on Ethereum. A girl with a Chinese flag in her hand appeared on her cover image recently. The photo got cropped, and that national symbol is no longer visible.
Background to the Case
Virgil Griffith got detained in November 2019 after participating in the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference. The procedure took place in the US city of Los Angeles.
Despite being released a month later, even with the backing of Ethereum’s co-creator and his personal friend Vitalik Buterin, he got detained again in July 2021 for infringing his probation by breaking into his account at the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange.
Almost two years later, this developer got found guilty of taking part in disclosure events in North Korea and conspiring so that the Asian country could circumvent US economic punishments.
North Korea has had the “obligation” to embrace the use of digital assets due to various economic blockades that weigh on its government. At the time, events on digital currencies and technology were encouraged in the nation, to which multiple specialists from various countries got invited to share their expertise on the matter.
The United Nations Organization recommended not attending these meetings because they represented an infraction of international punishments on the region ruled by Kim Jong-un.
By: Jenson Nuñez
