Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith was released early from prison

Virgil Griffith, an early contributor of Ethereum, was granted early release from prison after serving nearly five years for violating US sanctions on North Korea.

Griffith, 41, was arrested in 2019 after a controversial trip to North Korea, where he gave a presentation at the cryptocurrency conference held in Pyongyang. US prosecutors alleged that his speech entitled “Blockchain for Peace” explained how the country uses Crypto to avoid sanctions and washes money.

Griffith pleaded guilty to one conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Force Act in 2021, and was sentenced to 63 months in prison and a $100,000 fine in 2022.

On July 16, US District Judge Kevin Castell reduced Griffith’s sentence to 56 months, ending on August 2. While pleading with Griffith’s disciplinary violation in prison, the judge noted that the threat he poses to the public has been “a little dissipated.”

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Griffith’s Curiosity

Griffith’s legal team has long argued that his presentation contains public information and that he was driven by academic curiosity rather than criminal intent. One lawyer described the trip as “the pinnacle of Virgil’s unfortunate obsession with North Korea.”

The case of Griffith, a respected figure of early development at Ethereum (ETH) and a key contributor to the Ethereum Name Service, attracted attention from both crypto advocates and national security circles.

His release comes as North Korea-related hacking groups like Lazarus continue to target crypto companies, stealing billions of dollars in digital assets over the past decade.

Griffith is currently being held at a federal prison in Michigan and is expected to be released shortly after the August 2nd order comes into effect.

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