Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith pleads guilty after being in jail for almost 2 years. He was charged with conspiracy against the US government by working with North Korea. The main reason behind all the trouble he is facing is the presentation that he gave on cryptocurrency in North Korea back in April 2019. After that Virgil was also arrested again as he opened his Coinbase account after he was given bail. The plea could get him anywhere between 5-6 years in prison.
Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith’s case
Virgin faced charges for providing services to North Korea without any prior permission from the US government. He did ask for permission but on being denied he went ahead with his plans anyway. Virgil was also facing various charges of money laundering using crypto which is one of the reasons for this case. After all, this happened and he was arrested, Virgin was finally given bail after 1 year 8 months. But he was arrested again after he tried to access his Coinbase account’s holdings which were against his bail conditions. Even though his mother came to his rescue saying that she was the one using his account but that didn’t bode well with the authorities and didn’t help much.
Even after all this, Virgil was supported by Vitalik Buterin. The case that Vitalik put forward was that the presentation had information that was already readily available on the web. it is not that he has provided North Korea with some sensitive information that will harm the US. Well, even after that, the association with North Korea in any way landed him in trouble.
Plead guilty
The IEEPA charge against him says that he violated the orders of not having any form of transaction or activities with North Korea. Even after all the arguments of the information being on the web and no sensitive information being presented Virgin was not let off the hook. And while the defence and the prosecutors were awaiting a trial as things were not going anywhere, Virgin pleaded guilty. This took everyone by surprise as no one was expecting this to happen.
What are your thoughts as Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith pleads guilty on the IEEPA charge? And do you think he would be let off the hook if the case went on a trial? Let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found our content informative do like and share it with your friends.
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