Virgil Griffith is a 36-year-old blockchain and cryptocurrency expert. He was recently arrested by American investigators for the alleged help he offered to North Korea regarding blockchain technology. He was arrested because of a violation of United States sanctions, according to the justice department.
FBI agents arrested him on Thursday while he was traveling to North Korea illegally to present them with information on using cryptocurrency. He also planned a way to transfer the information between North Korea and South Korea.
According to US Attorney Geoffrey Berman, Virgil Griffith gave North Korea highly technical blockchain information to help them evade sanctions and launder money to South Korea. In doing this, he jeopardized the United States sanctions that were put in place by the president and Congress. The sanctions were enacted to help ensure there was pressure on the dangerous regime of North Korea about blockchain and cryptocurrency technology.
On Friday, the complaint against Mr. Griffith was unsealed during a meeting at the Manhattan federal court. The complaint stated that he traveled to a city in North Korea to give a speech at a cryptocurrency and blockchain conference in April. According to the FBI, this was done via China because he had been previously refused permission to travel to North Korea by the state department.
While in North Korea, Mr. Griffith gave a presentation called “Blockchain and Peace” to a large group at the conference. During the presentation, he talked about how blockchain technology could benefit people in North Korea. As stated in the unsealed complaint, Mr. Griffith was pre-approved by North Korean officials to give his presentation before doing so. The officials also encouraged him to speak about ways in which blockchain and cryptocurrencies could help the government launder money and evade sanctions.
Up to this point, Mr. Griffith has not had a chance to formulate his response to the allegations made against them. He was also not readily available for any comment when the statement was unsealed.
Earlier this year, a United Nations study was conducted that found more than $2 billion was generated for Pyongyang to be used for their weapons programs. They raised this money by utilizing the advanced technology given to them to pull off cyberattacks to steal money from cyber exchanges and banks.
Officials for the United States are widely concerned that foreign countries may be increasing their efforts to use mass marketing and digital currencies to avoid sanctions.
