US cryptocurrency expert Virgil Griffith pleads guilty to helping North Korea avoid sanctions

Virgil Griffith, who is based in Singapore, in 2018 started providing services such as cryptocurrency mining to North Korean individuals

Doing so violated US Treasury bans on ‘exporting any goods, services, or technology’ to North Korea

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Prominent US cryptocurrency specialist Virgil Griffith. Photo: Handout

Published: 1:01pm, 28 Sep 2021Updated: 1:00pm, 28 Sep 2021

A prominent American cryptocurrency promoter and former hacker has pleaded guilty to advising North Korea on using virtual money to avoid international controls, a New York court said on Monday.

Virgil Griffith, who is based in Singapore, launched projects in 2018 to provide services to individuals in North Korea by developing and financing cryptocurrency structures, including cryptocurrency mining, according to the Southern District Court of New York.

Griffith worked with others to provide cryptocurrency services and help North Korea evade sanctions, the court said.

He was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in November 2019.

Griffith, 38, had attended a conference on blockchain and virtual currencies in Pyongyang in April that year, where he spoke about how to use both technologies “to evade sanctions”, the US Justice Department said.

Doing so violated US Treasury bans on “exporting any goods, services, or technology” to North Korea, put in place in response to the country’s nuclear weapons programme.

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