A cryptocurrency expert is set to begin trial Monday on a charge that he conspired to violate U.S. law by traveling to North Korea to give a presentation on how to use blockchain technology to launder money and evade sanctions.
Virgil Griffith, a former senior researcher for the Ethereum Foundation, was arrested in November 2019 after attending a conference in Pyongyang earlier in the year. A federal grand jury convened by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York indicted Mr. Griffith for allegedly conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which prohibits U.S. citizens from exporting goods, services or technology to North Korea. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
