Former Ethereum Foundation developer Virgil Griffith released from prison
Quick Take
- Griffith, known for his contributions to the Ethereum Name Service, pleaded guilty to sanctions violations in 2021 after giving a presentation titled “Blockchains for Peace” in North Korea.
Former Ethereum Foundation developer Virgil Griffith has been released from prison on parole, according to a post on X.
Griffith was sentenced to 63 months in a U.S. prison in 2022 after U.S. prosecutors said he violated sanctions law by giving a presentation called "Blockchains for Peace" in North Korea. Prosecutors alleged that Griffith presented "technical advice on using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to evade sanctions."
Griffith pleaded guilty to sanctions violations in 2021. In July 2024, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel reduced his sentence to 56 months.
Griffith joined the Ethereum Foundation around 2016 and is known for his early work on the Ethereum Name Service and other protocol-level improvements.
Griffith earned a Ph.D. in computation and neural systems from Caltech, and previously launched WikiScanner, a tool to track Wikipedia edits. He worked with lauded cryptographer Aaron Swartz to create Tor2web, an interface for accessing hidden Tor websites via regular web browsers.
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