{"id":430886,"date":"2022-04-13T08:51:21","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T05:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/north-korea-obsessed-ethereum-dev-gets-5-years-for-breaking-sanctions\/"},"modified":"2022-04-13T08:51:21","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T05:51:21","slug":"north-korea-obsessed-ethereum-dev-gets-5-years-for-breaking-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/north-korea-obsessed-ethereum-dev-gets-5-years-for-breaking-sanctions\/","title":{"rendered":"# North Korea-obsessed Ethereum dev gets 5 years for breaking sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2781315a017\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2781315a017\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/north-korea-obsessed-ethereum-dev-gets-5-years-for-breaking-sanctions\/#%E2%80%9D_North_Korea-obsessed_Ethereum_dev_gets_5_years_for_breaking_sanctions_%E2%80%9C\" >&#8221; North Korea-obsessed Ethereum dev gets 5 years for breaking sanctions &#8220;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9D_North_Korea-obsessed_Ethereum_dev_gets_5_years_for_breaking_sanctions_%E2%80%9C\"><\/span>&#8221; North Korea-obsessed Ethereum dev gets 5 years for breaking sanctions &#8220;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjItMDQvOTZjM2VjODAtM2QwNi00NGM3LTljMmUtNjMxYzMyZDUzODI4LmpwZw==.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-2a0745c6>Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum (ETH) developer has been sentenced to 63 months in prison and will pay a fine of $100,000 for attending a conference and assisting North Korea use blockchain <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> in contravention of economic sanctions imposed by the United States.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, April 12, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York handed down the decision. Judge Castel stated that \u201cwhat you see here is intentionality, a deliberate, willful intent to violate the sanctions&#8217; regime,\u201d adding that the crime was made worse because Griffith had a \u201cdesire to educate people on how to evade sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In September 2021, Griffith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law banning U.S. citizens from exporting any \u201cgoods, services or technology to the DPRK (North Korea) without a license from the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In early 2019 Griffith was unsuccessful in gaining permission from US authorities to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a> to North Korea, but in April, he went anyway and visited the capital of Pyongyang for the \u201cBlockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>At the conference he gave presentations dressed in a North Korean suit about how the country could use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions and launder money. He also presented methods on how smart contracts could be used to benefit the country in nuclear weapons negotiations with the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>In an attempt to lower his sentence Griffith&#8217;s defense team provided evidence of factors which may have caused him to act irrationally. They presented a psychological assessment of Griffith which showed him suffering from both Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).<\/p>\n<p>His defense team said that diagnosis of OCPD and NPD explained the \u201cobsession\u201d Griffiths had for North Korea and is potentially what caused him to brush off warnings from his friends, family, and the government on unsanctioned travel to the country.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related: <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>The FBI\u2019s takedown of Virgil Griffith for breaking sanctions, firsthand<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At the hearing, Griffith was given the opportunity to speak stating he was remorseful of his actions, adding the sanctions on Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine had \u201cshown their value\u201d and that he had been \u201ccured\u201d of his \u201cobsession with North Korea\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The court did not <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ea convinced that Griffith was regretful, with Judge Castel saying:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe fact of the matter is Virgil Griffih hoped to come home as a crypto hero, to be admired and praised for standing up to government sanctions, for his fearlessness and nobility.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Griffith was arrested in November 2019 by the FBI, a few months after his return from the conference, he had several meetings with the Bureau regarding his trip prior to his arrest, even providing them with photographs of himself giving presentations at the conference.<\/p>\n<p>North Korea has become increasingly sophisticated with its use of cryptocurrency both in evading sanctions and in using hacks and exploits to steal millions of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>In January, a report by Chainalysis revealed that nearly $400 million was stolen by North Korean hackers in 2021 through exchange hacks and ransomware, employing a meticulous laundering system involving decentralized exchange swaps and multiple crypto tumblers.<\/p>\n<p><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"law_decoded\"><\/template><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/north-korea-obsessed-ethereum-dev-gets-5-years-for-breaking-sanctions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8221; North Korea-obsessed Ethereum dev gets 5 years for breaking sanctions &#8220; Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum (ETH) developer has been sentenced to 63 months in prison and will pay a fine of $100,000 for attending a conference and assisting North Korea use blockchain technology in contravention of economic sanctions imposed by the United States&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":430887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjItMDQvOTZjM2VjODAtM2QwNi00NGM3LTljMmUtNjMxYzMyZDUzODI4LmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[76555,75434,71433,73821,20101,27926,70934,71523,4965,71471,67874],"class_list":["post-430886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-conference","tag-smart-contracts","tag-court","tag-developers","tag-fbi","tag-north-korea","tag-regulation","tag-sanctions","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}