Ethereum researcher pleads guilty to assisting North Korea evade sanctions working with cryptocurrency and blockchain

Ethereum (ETH) researcher Virgil Griffith has admitted to violating the US International Emergency Economic Powers Act by assisting North Korea evade sanctions, a federal official mentioned.

In a statement, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss mentioned that Griffith pleaded guilty to assisting the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) use cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies to launder cash. and evade sanctions.

“Griffith has partnered with many others to give crypto companies to North Korea and support North Korea evade sanctions and went to North Korea to do so.

In the method, Griffith jeopardized the nationwide safety of the United States by undermining sanctions that the two Congress and the president had enacted to exert optimum stress on the risk posed by the rebellious regime. the Korean side. “

According to the statement, Griffith violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act whilst attending the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference in April 2019.

At the conference, attended by North Korean officials, the Ethereum researcher gave a presentation on how cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies can be made use of to launder cash and evade sanctions.

After the conference, Griffith attempted to facilitate the exchange of cryptocurrencies among North Korea and South Korea.

Griffith also “attempts to recruit other U.S. citizens to come to North Korea and provide similar services to North Korean individuals, while also attempting to introduce North Korea to blockchain service providers and other cryptocurrencies.”

Griffith started establishing a strategy to support North Korea “as early as 2018,” in accordance to the statement.

The Ethereum researcher was arrested in November 2019 and launched on bail about a month later on. Griffith, who holds a PhD in laptop and neural techniques from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), joined the Ethereum investigation crew in 2016.

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