Ethereum developers may be imprisoned for 20 years for participating in a conference in the DPRK

On January 7, documents were filed in the district court of New York to initiate a criminal case against the head of the department forspecial projects of Virgil Griffith's Ethereum Foundation. The programmer is accused of conspiracy to violate the Law “On Emergency Economic Powers”.

The indictment states that Griffithtook part in a conference that took place in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. During the event, Virgil provided services to representatives of the East Asian country, without receiving permission from the US Department of the Treasury.

On November 21, 2019, Griffith submitted an application askingallow him to travel to the conference, but was refused. Despite this, the programmer attended the summit and shared his experience in the blockchain industry with his North Korean colleagues. US Assistant Attorney General John Demers said Virgil told “America's main enemies” on how to circumvent economic sanctions using distributed database technology.

Developer arrested on November 28 and releasedon the security on January 9, 2020. The prosecutor's office demanded that the accused be sent to his parents in Alabama and refused to issue a passport, citing the fact that Griffith could hide from criminal prosecution abroad. Virgil’s lawyers, Brian Klein and Sean Buckley, are confident that they will be able to prove the innocence of their client during the trial. Griffith faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.