{"id":45964,"date":"2021-07-12T20:14:58","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T17:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=45964"},"modified":"2025-09-01T13:56:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T10:56:29","slug":"prosecutors-seek-remand-for-ethereum-researcher-griffith-in-custody-over-north-korea-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/prosecutors-seek-remand-for-ethereum-researcher-griffith-in-custody-over-north-korea-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors seek remand for Ethereum researcher Griffith in custody over North Korea ties"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. prosecutors sought to remand the former Ethereum Foundation researcher Virgil Griffith in custody. Screenshots of the filing were posted by journalist and blockchain analyst Amy Castor.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">Virgil Griffith violated his bail by trying to access $1 million in crypto on an account on a US exchange. Prosecutors are not happy. They think he is a flight risk <a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.co\/fxFnZQ24yz\\\">pic.twitter.com\/fxFnZQ24yz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Amy Castor (@ahcastor) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ahcastor\/status\/1413687406398672898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">July 10, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script>\\n\\n\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>According to prosecutors, the developer violated bail conditions by attempting to access one of his frozen cryptocurrency accounts with assets worth $1 million. Prosecutors said this raised Griffith&#8217;s flight risk to an &#8216;unacceptable level&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>Lawyer Jason Gottlieb acknowledged the case is complex, but called it insane to remand someone in custody for this alleged bail violation.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n\\n\\n<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">Griffith is a complicated and close case on SOME issues, but not this one: it is insane to remand someone to custody for this purported bail violation. The prosecutors are being incredibly heavy-handed and punitive. Not remotely in the public interest. <a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.co\/xC9JkHgj0n\\\">https:\/\/t.co\/xC9JkHgj0n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jason Gottlieb (@ohaiom) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ohaiom\/status\/1413847992956858372?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">July 10, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script>\\n\\n\\n\\n<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>&#8216;The prosecutors are acting incredibly harshly and repressive. Not in the public interest,&#8217; noted Gottlieb.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\\n\\n\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>In April 2019, the former Ethereum Foundation employee attended a blockchain conference in Pyongyang. According to U.S. authorities, he told North Korean government officials about the possibilities of using cryptocurrency to bypass sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>Griffith was arrested in November of the same year. He declined to plead guilty, and in January 2020 was released on bail of $1 million.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>In the autumn, the developer <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/ethereum-foundation-researcher-files-motion-to-dismiss-north-korea-sanctions-conspiracy-charges\">called for<\/a> dropping the charges of providing information assistance to North Korea.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in January 2021, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/court-rejects-defendants-bid-to-cooperate-with-north-korea-ethereum-developer\">the court denied Griffith&#8217;s motion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to ForkLog news on Telegram: <a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.me\/forklogfeed\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"nofollow noopener\\\">ForkLog Feed<\/a> \u2014 the full news stream, <a href=\\\"https:\/\/telegram.me\/forklog\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"nofollow noopener\\\">ForkLog<\/a> \u2014 the most important news, infographics and opinions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. prosecutors sought to remand the former Ethereum Foundation researcher Virgil Griffith in custody. Screenshots of the filing were posted by journalist and blockchain analyst Amy Castor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1162,1202,686,26,1633],"class_list":["post-45964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-court-cases","tag-north-korea-dprk","tag-sanctions","tag-usa","tag-virgil-griffith"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"21","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45965,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45964\/revisions\/45965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}