Cult hacker and cryptocurrency promoter Virgil Griffith was arrested last week for allegedly advising North Korea on how to avoid sanctions.
Virgil Griffith allegedly attended a Pyongyang-based conference in April where he spoke about how to use blockchain and virtual currencies «to evade sanctions», according to the U.S. Justice Department.
«Despite that, the U.S. Department of State had denied Griffith permission to travel to the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Griffith presented at the DPRK Cryptocurrency Conference, knowing that doing so violated sanctions against the DPRK,» it said in a statement.
The 36-year old Griffith, who lives in Singapore and works for crypto developer Ethereum, was arrested last week at the Los Angeles International Airport.
Aiding an Adversary
According to the Justice Department, Griffith had begun to make plans to «facilitate the exchange of cryptocurrency between the DPRK and South Korea» and knowingly violate sanctions. He was also believed to be aiming to «purchase» citizenship in another country while renouncing his U.S. citizenship.
«We cannot allow anyone to evade sanctions, because the consequences of North Korea obtaining funding, technology, and information to further its desire to build nuclear weapons put the world at risk,» said FBI assistant director-in-charge William F. Sweeney Jr in the statement. «It’s even more egregious that a U.S. citizen allegedly chose to aid our adversary.»
