Ethereum Researcher and Cryptocurrency Promoter Pleads Guilty to Advising North Korea Evade Sanctions

Virgil Griffith, who joined Ethereum four years ago, faces a 20-year jail term.

By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 30 September 2021 11:15 IST

Ethereum Researcher and Cryptocurrency Promoter Pleads Guilty to Advising North Korea Evade Sanctions

Griffith worked with others to provide cryptocurrency services and help North Korea evade sanctions

Highlights

Virgil Griffith provided services including cryptocurrency mining
Griffith was called cult hacker in a New York Times profile 11 years ago
Griffith has a doctorate in theoretical neuroscience

A prominent American cryptocurrency promoter and former hacker has pleaded guilty to advising North Korea on using virtual money to avoid international controls, a New York court said Monday.

Virgil Griffith, who is based in Singapore, launched projects in 2018 to provide services to individuals in North Korea by developing and financing cryptocurrency structures, including cryptocurrency mining, according to the Southern District Court of New York.

A ruling will be announced in January 2022.

Griffith, who faces a 20-year prison sentence, worked with others to provide cryptocurrency services and help North Korea evade sanctions, the court said.

Samsung Wins Patent for a Tri-Fold Smartphone With Specialised Barrier Layer for Improved Durability

He was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in November 2019.

Griffith, 38, had attended a conference on blockchain and virtual currencies in Pyongyang in April that year, where he spoke about how to use both technologies "to evade sanctions," the US Justice Department said.

Doing so violated US Treasury bans on "exporting any goods, services, or technology" to North Korea, put in place in response to the country's nuclear weapons program.

Shaken-Up Crypto Markets Dent Bitcoin, Ether Second Day in a Row

After the conference, Griffith "began formulating plans to facilitate the exchange of cryptocurrency between the DPRK and South Korea, despite knowing that assisting with such an exchange would violate sanctions," the Justice Department said, using the North's official name.

The department said he also announced plans to renounce his US citizenship, aiming to "purchase" citizenship in another country.

Called a "cult hacker" in a New York Times profile 11 years ago, Griffith has a doctorate in theoretical neuroscience from the California Institute of Technology.

Four years ago he joined Ethereum, a Singapore-based company developing a secure blockchain-based global platform for business and finance use, and promoting its own cryptocurrency of the same name. Ether price in India stood at Rs. 2.38 lakhs as of 11am IST on September 30.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Cryptocurrency Markets, Cryptocurrency Prices, Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Cryptocurrency Mining, Virgil Griffith, Ethereum, Ether price in India, North Korea