Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been released from prison after his sentence was reduced to 56 months for attending a crypto conference in North Korea. He is now seeking a pardon from President Trump’s administration.
Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum developer, was released from prison after his sentence was cut to 56 months for attending a crypto conference in North Korea in 2019.
Virgil Griffith is a renowned American computer scientist, engineer, and Bitcoin enthusiast.
He is best known for his work as the Chief Scientist at the Ethereum Foundation.
Griffith's contributions to blockchain technology have been instrumental in advancing its adoption worldwide.
He has also been a vocal advocate for open-source software and has worked on various projects to promote transparency and decentralization.
Griffith holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Griffith was arrested in November 2019, seven months after returning from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, where he had attended a crypto conference. While at the conference, Griffith gave a presentation on Ethereum and explained how cryptocurrency could be used to evade sanctions against the country. He initially fought the charge but eventually pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate international sanctions in 2021.
North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country located in East Asia.
With a population of approximately 25 million people, it shares borders with China and South Korea.
The country has a unique history, having been under Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945 and then divided along the 38th parallel after World War II.
North Korea's economy is primarily based on agriculture and heavy industry, with a significant reliance on international aid.
Its capital city is Pyongyang.
The New York judge overseeing the case sentenced him to a $100,000 fine and 63 months, or nearly five years, imprisonment — a fraction of the possible 20-year sentence he faced if he went to trial and lost. Last year, Griffith‘s lawyers successfully reduced his sentence to 56 months, citing his status as a first-time offender.
Ethereum is an open-source, decentralized, and blockchain-based platform that enables the creation of 'smart contracts' and 'decentralized applications (dApps)'.
Founded in 2014 by Vitalik Buterin, it was initially designed to be a platform for building and deploying secure, transparent, and tamper-proof applications.
Ethereum's native cryptocurrency is Ether (ETH), which is used to pay for transaction fees and computational services on the network.
With its growing ecosystem and increasing adoption, Ethereum has become one of the most widely-used blockchain platforms globally.
Griffith has been imprisoned since mid-2021. Though he was initially released on bail following his arrest, a judge sent him back to jail in New York to await trial after he violated his bail conditions by attempting to access one of his cryptocurrency accounts in order to pay his lawyers. Griffith‘s legal team hopes that he will soon be moved from his halfway house in Baltimore to home confinement.
However, the long-term consequences persist: Virgil Griffith will have to endure burdensome probation for several years, with conditions not yet known. Additionally, the Department of Commerce placed severe export restrictions on Virgil Griffith until 2032, which would make it difficult for him to return to working in the crypto industry.
Griffith is seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump‘s administration, an ‘ongoing process‘ that his team has made significant progress on. They are seeking a pardon to bring justice to a prosecution they believe was wrongheaded and fundamentally un-American, to better Virgil Griffith‘s life, and to ensure he can contribute to the world in need of thinkers and doers like him.
Several other convicted crypto criminals, including former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, are also hopeful for pardons.
