Virgil Griffith pleads Guilty For Trying To Help North Korea Use ETH Evade US Sanction
Virgil Griffith is an Ethereum developer who went to North Korea in 2019 to attend a blockchain conference and being a developer in one of the top cryptocurrencies in the world he gave a talk. The crime was called conspiracy because it was stated that he gave information that seemed vital or valuable to the country. This was after he was warned not to enter the country, that means he arrived the country without permission from the US government.
The Ethereum developer was about to face nearly 20 years in prison if he was found guilty in the court, so taking a plea deal was the best deal the developer could take so he can have a 6 and half years sentence instead. Virgil was initially arrested on November 2019, then he didn’t know what crimes he was arrested for. Although some of his talks during the cryptocurrency conference were based on teaching the locals or citizens how to transfer funds using cryptocurrency. It was stated that he had violated the International Emergency Economic Power Act by giving a talk in North Korea. By doing so he had violated the act which restricted a U.S person to export goods and services to North Korea. source
Giving a talk regarding cryptocurrency is him performing an act of service, and he is a U.S citizen or person. These informations that involved teaching how to transfer funds with cryptocurrencies was considered vital because it will help North Korea evade sanctions by hiding and laundering money. This is an act I don’t think he knew he was violating when doing it. source
I feel the government were just looking for a person to blame or someone to pay and Virgil Griffith was the unfortunate guy that fell in their net trap. Because those information he shared during the conference was something anyone can find using the internet, so his lawyer argued that, that can not be regarded as service.
I never knew this can be a reason for an arrest, well it’s the government, they can do anything to prove their point.
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