15 Dec Feds Arrest Programmer for Giving Cryptocurrency Talk in North Korea | News & Opinion
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Federal agents have arrested a US computer programmer for giving a talk at a cryptocurrency conference in North Korea on blockchain technology.
36-year-old Virgil Griffith is set to appear in court today on the suspected crime of trying to help North Korea circumvent US sanctions. Griffith is known for working on a foundation that supports the Ethereum cryptocurrency. But according to the Justice Department, he also taught attendees at an April conference in North Korea how to use cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to launder money and bypass US sanctions.
“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 Sweeney Jr.
(From Virgil Griffith’s website)
Griffith appears to be well aware his trip to the country risked violating US sanctions. Both the US government, and members of the…
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