Ethereum researcher released after serving reduced sentence

Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) developer, was released from prison on April 9, according to the Bureau of Prison officials.

Griffith will now stay in a halfway house for several weeks as part of his parole process, confirmed by crypto developer Brantly Millegan.

Griffith was arrested in 2019 for delivering a lecture titled "Blockchains for Peace in North Korea" in Pyongyang.

The presentation detailed how blockchain technology could potentially help circumvent U.S. sanctions.

Prosecutors argued that his actions violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which restricts economic activities with adversarial nations.

Despite the lecture's content being publicly available online, Griffith was accused of providing North Korea with "highly technical information."

In 2020, Griffith was indicted by a U.S. grand jury and initially pleaded not guilty.

However, following legal proceedings, he entered a guilty plea in 2021 as part of a deal with prosecutors.

In April 2022, he was sentenced to 63 months in prison and fined $100,000.

Griffith's legal team later sought to reduce his sentence under revised U.S. sentencing guidelines.

In July 2024, Judge Kevin Castel reduced the sentence by seven months, citing Griffith’s hardships during incarceration and diminished risk to public safety.

However, the judge noted Griffith's disciplinary issues while in prison, including rule infractions such as attempting to steal soap and tea.

“The need to protect the public from further crimes of this defendant has somewhat dissipated,” Judge Castel stated while acknowledging Griffith’s misconduct during his time in custody.

Prosecutors opposed the reduction, emphasising the severity of Griffith’s actions and their potential impact on national security.

“Griffith chose to evade the sanctions of his own country to provide services to a hostile foreign power,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

At the time of reporting, the Ethereum (ETH) price was $1,662.36.