Ethereum contributor Virgil Griffith released from prison; pardon on the way?
The post Ethereum contributor Virgil Griffith released from prison; pardon on the way? appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Virgil Griffith, a key figure in Ethereum’s early development and known for his work on the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), has been released from prison on parole and transferred to a halfway house, according to updates shared on X on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Griffith was sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to providing the North Korean government with technical information on how they could evade sanctions, thereby violating sanction rules. The news of his release was first shared by Brantly Milegan, executive director of Ethereum Identity Foundation, who shared a picture of Griffith and his parents in front of the prison. VIRGIL GRIFFITH IS OUT OF PRISON!!! just released this morning! he’ll be in a halfway house for a few weeks, and parole after that with work restrictions (so a pardon is still important), but HE IS OUT 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/Q4jRZmryGk — brantly.eth (@BrantlyMillegan) April 9, 2025 Virgil Griffith was in prison for North Korean lectures Alexander Urbelis, general counsel of the Ethereum Name Service who also doubles as Griffith’s outside counsel, also announced his release on X while also informing news sources that he has been released from FCI Milan, a low-security prison in Michigan, where he served part of his sentence having initially being in FCI Allenwood Low, another low-security federal prison in Pennsylvania. Griffith has been incarcerated since November 2019, when he was arrested for violating international sanctions. This came seven months after he spoke at a crypto conference in North Korea, with prosecutors claiming that his presentation on Ethereum and cryptocurrency provided information that could be used to evade sanctions and launder money. North Korea has been subject to a series of sanctions from the United States and other countries in the West and is known for its affiliation with…
Filed under: News - @ April 10, 2025 1:16 am