The U.S. government intends to charge Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith with information assistance to North Korea. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for September 2021, according to CoinDesk.
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In April 2019, Virgil Griffith attended a blockchain conference in Pyongyang, where he allegedly told North Korea government officials about the possibility of using cryptocurrency to bypass sanctions and facilitate cross-border transfers.
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He did not have any special authorizations from the U.S. Department of Justice or the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to visit North Korea or to provide any services or goods.
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In November of the same year Griffith was arrested on charges of violating U.S. sanctions laws, but was later released on bond secured by real estate owned by his sister and parents valued at $1 million.
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In October 2020, Griffith’s representatives filed motion to dismiss the charges. The filing argued that Griffith’s public disclosure of blockchain technology does not amount to providing services to the country, and that the statements by American authorities are based on assumptions rather than facts.
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US Army: around 6,000 hackers are working against North Korea
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On Tuesday, December 22, in the Southern District of New York, further hearings were held in the case. Judge Castel asked whether the government planned to contend that the information disclosed in Griffith’s conference speech \”goes beyond the current capabilities of blockchain and North Korea’s knowledge.\”
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The prosecution confirmed that it would not make that argument. Instead, the prosecution would present evidence of how Griffith’s remarks and his answers to audience questions helped conference attendees understand how cryptocurrency works.
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Although Judge Castel did not rule on the motion to dismiss the charges against Griffith, he issued several new orders on minor issues related to the case.
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The judge denied the defendant’s motion to disclose the identity of a witness, and postponed ruling on the defense’s motion to seek additional information from government records regarding the use of cryptocurrency to evade U.S. financial sanctions.
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Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture action to seize funds from 280 cryptocurrency accounts. The department links them to hacks carried out by North Korean hackers.
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As reported by the UN Security Council last year, North Korea stole about $2 billion through cyberattacks on cryptocurrency exchanges and banks to fund its weapons programmes.
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