Virgil Griffith Admits Helping North Korea Evade Sanctions

An emerging development shows that Virgil Griffith pled guilty to assisting North Korea in avoiding U.S sanctions. According to a release, the idea was to use cryptocurrencies and blockchains to commit the unlawful act. Thus, it goes against the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). A U.S attorney believes that the confession is a step further to deal with America’s foe. His sentence will take place on January 18, 2022.

Virgil Griffith is Guilty

Headlines about Virgil Griffith began to emerge in November 2019. North Korea was hosting a blockchain conference that saw massive participation. The Ethereum developer was one of the visitors to the Korean blockchain event.

Allegedly, Griffith gave Koreans insights on how to launder money using blockchains. Virgil Griffith and his counterparts actively took part in answering any crypto-related questions coming from the Koreans.

What’s more, his actions also sought to violate the president’s sanction policies. He was under police custody later on after returning to Los Angeles.

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The sanction law bans U.S citizens from exporting goods, services, or technology to North Korea. Citizens can only do so with a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The trip comes even after the U.S government began to restrict his visit to North Korea.

Revealing such information could create a financing channel for Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Virgil could face a 20-year jail term for breaking the IEEPA guideline.

Rallying for Support

Several figures in the crypto sphere have come out to stand with Virgil’s situation. A tweet by Jake Chervinsky opposes the harsh laws that Griffith is going through. According to Jake, the government is pursuing an individual speaking his mind to the wrong crowd. Such cases enable citizens to view the reliability levels of the civil rights system.

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Virgil Griffith’s lawyers also showed dissatisfaction at the country’s ruling on the matter. The legal representatives say that the insights given to Koreans by Virgil Griffith do not fit as services. As such, the First Amendment secures him since anyone can access the same crypto information on the internet. Vitalik Buterin is another supporter claiming that the lawful actions on Virgil are wrong.