Today United States prosecutors announced the arrest of Virgil Griffith, who allegedly traveled to the Democratic People's Commonwealth of Korea (DPRK) to evangelize a presentation on how to use cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to circumvent sanctions.

Co-ordinate to the November 29 announcement, the 36-year-quondam Griffith was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport, and will be charged with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The charges behave a maximum term of 20 years in prison. U.Due south. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman stated:

"Equally declared, Virgil Griffith provided highly technical information to Democratic people's republic of korea, knowing that this information could be used to help North Korea launder money and evade sanctions. In allegedly doing and then, Griffith jeopardized the sanctions that both Congress and the president take enacted to place maximum pressure on Democratic people's republic of korea'south dangerous regime."

The IEEPA prohibits any U.S. citizens from exporting whatever goods, services, or technology to the DPRK without a license from the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Avails Command.

Griffith, a U.S. citizen living in Singapore, was previously denied permission to travel to the DPRK by the U.Southward. Department of Land. Griffith went against the conclusion and presented at the DPRK Cryptocurrency Briefing, violating the U.South. sanctions confronting the DPRK. FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said:

"There are deliberate reasons sanctions have been levied on N Korea. The country and its leader pose a literal threat to our national security and that of our allies. Mr. Griffith allegedly traveled to North Korea without permission from the federal government, and with the knowledge of what he was doing was against the constabulary. Nosotros cannot let anyone to evade sanctions, because the consequences of Northward Korea obtaining funding, technology, and information to farther its desire to build nuclear weapons put the earth at gamble. It's even more egregious that a U.S. citizen allegedly chose to assistance our adversary."

North korea trying to evade sanctions

Democratic people's republic of korea is reportedly in the early stages of developing a cryptocurrency to help the DPRK evade international sanctions and observe a mode around "the U.S.-dominated global fiscal system."

Alejandro Cao de Benos, the official in accuse of North korea's crypto conferences, said at the fourth dimension that the digital currency volition be similar to Bitcoin (BTC) just that they are however in the very early stages in the creation of the token and that at that place are "no plans to digitize the [N Korean] won for now."