Virgil Griffith to face jury

Virgil Griffith, an Ethereum programmer who is accused of collaborating with North Korea, will face a jury. He was allegedly helping the Kim regime [...] https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1085437947660215829/

Virgil Griffith, an Ethereum programmer who is accused of collaborating with North Korea, will face a jury. He was alleged to have helped the Kim regime evade economic sanctions by using cryptocurrencies. Virgil Griffith before a jury We now know that a federal judge in New York denied Griffith's motion to dismiss criminal charges. The former Ethereum developer was accused of helping North Korea evade economic sanctions. Why? It's about his speech at a blockchain conference in Pyongyang in April 2019. The computer scientist claims that the speech he gave at the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency conference in Pyongyang was protected by his First Amendment right to free speech. Griffith has also requested a list of details about the case from the court, claiming he is unable to prepare for the hearing. The four-page indictment, he says, was "brief and vague" and lacked detailed information describing his "criminal conduct." The problem is that the judge denied that request as well, finding that the defendant had already been provided "adequate notice of the charges." The judge also cited text messages that Griffith allegedly sent to colleagues in the run-up to the conference. They show that the young computer scientist wanted to "take a trip to the DPRK. He planned to create an Ethereum node there, which would help "circumvent the current sanctions." In another message, Griffith, when asked why North Korea needed such solutions, replied that he did not know. However, he speculated that it was most likely an attempt to "evade sanctions." The case has been going on for more than a year Recall that the Justice Department announced the arrest of Griffith exactly on November 29, 2019. At that time, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman stated that the IT specialist "provided highly technological information to North Korea, knowing that this information could help North Korea launder money and evade sanctions." The January 2020 indictment noted that the young expert may have conspired with North Korea. The result was a violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The judge also noted that the fact that Griffith did not receive financial compensation for his speech may not affect the jury's verdict. Tags ETH Ethereum virgil griffith