Ex-Ethereum developer sentenced to 5+ years in jail for giving crypto talk in North Korea

Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith travelled to North Korea in November 2019 to give a talk at a Pyongyang cryptocurrency conference. Today, he was sentenced to a minimum five years in jail for the trip.

Griffith was convicted of aiding the North Korean government in avoiding global sanctions via cryptocurrency money transfers with his appearance in Pyongyang. The American court sentenced Griffith to five to six and a half years in jail, plus a $100,000 fine for his actions. The maximum available sentence for his crime was twenty years.

During the sentencing, judge Kevin Castel said that he believes that Griffith's actions were not misguided, as there was proof of Griffith's understanding of how this information would be used by the government in North Korea.

“What you see here is an intentionality…and a desire to educate people on how to evade sanctions,” Castel said. “The fact of the matter is Virgil Griffith…hoped to come home to Singapore or elsewhere as a crypto hero. To be admired and praised for standing up to government sanctions, for his fearlessness and nobility.”

Last month, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin had appealed to the court to be lenient in their sentencing, citing Griffith's good nature and the genuine remorse for his actions.

However, with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the increasing sanctions on Russia, judge Castel noted that now more than ever, it is important to remind potential law-breakers that the US government's international policies can not be undermined without repercussion.