Virgil Griffith Will Be Released From Jail Pending Trial, Says Attorney

[cheezcarls]

Virgil Griffith, the Ethereum Foundation developer who was recently arrested for allegedly aiding North Korea by educating them on cryptocurrencies, will soon be released from jail pending trial. Griffith’s lawyer Brian Klein tweeted the development and the charges will be tested in court.

The Ethereum Foundation developer who was arrested for allegedly aiding North Korea, Virgil Griffith, will be released from jail pending trial, according to Griffith’s lawyer Brian Klein. Tweeting about the development, Klein said that the criminal complaint would be tested in court.

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For me, this is good enough. But overall, I am disappointed of the US government in how they handled Virgil Griffith’s case for teaching North Koreans about cryptocurrency and blockchain.

Instead of seeking peace and prosperity with North Korea, they still continue to “war” with them. Even if Virgil was not there, North Koreans can “self-study” in the internet (only those who are in the upper ranks of the government as middle and lower class don’t have internet access).

They just ruined Virgil’s thanksgiving, and I kinda lost my full respect to the US government. My close friend was sad about hearing this, since she and Virgil are in a relationship years ago. I met him in person in Boracay too (he was wearing Bitconnect shirt that time lol), and he was a fun guy to talk to, that you cannot be bored.

I wish that they would drop all charges against Virgil, but it’s not gonna be easy.

[Theb]

Posting bail was a good sign meaning that the judge ruled in favor of him that there was doubtful evidence to begin with. Now the next step for them is for them to throw this case in the trash on where it belongs. The US government is always on this kind of witch hunt hoping that every evidence they see will stick and they are hoping to convict anyone with very little evidence. Still I see his Blockchain and Peace lecture didn't intend for the North Koreans to avoid sanctions or to create any kind of international loopholes and the US government is just assuming everything on what he did.

[squatter]

Posting bail was a good sign meaning that the judge ruled in favor of him that there was doubtful evidence to begin with.

No, it's just an indication that the court doesn't consider him to be a flight risk.

My understanding of the sanctions is that Griffith needed explicit approval from the Department of State to travel to North Korea and provide technical information. The US government denied him permission and explicitly warned him not to go.

I'm fairly sure it's a slam dunk case for the government.

[Kemarit]

^^, Exactly, the question is why Virgil did pushed through with his travel plans despite the US government giving him warning? Is there an incentive?

Pretty interesting what will be the verdict on him, we don't want to waste such talent, however, he did something that no US citizen has ever done before, to help North Korea, so I guess he need to suffer the consequences here.

[hugeblack]

I don’t know what information Griffiths provided to North Korea? But if that information was to pose a threat to the United States, I do not think it would be available on the Internet.
Also, I don’t know why the matter was taken care of, that it is the detention of an American citizen by his government. cryotocurrencies have no involvement in this matter.
The situation will differ if the matter is related to the ether currency.

[audaciousbeing]

Its normal for him to be released pending trial it shows that the US government as much as they want to make him face the law he allegedly violated, it still needs to be done following due process. During the trial which I hope would not be done within close doors so that everyone can see the law he violated and how he was able to help the Korean violated sanctions. We will be waiting...

[fudster]

The bitconnect shirt i think its the real clue here why he must be guilty.   

US is bitching for why he disobeyed after being advised and was forbid to go North Korea but still go there. This should have been answered because its definitely not for the money to be paid to him for the lecture.  The billions he would get for 5-20 years in prison isn't worth when you don't enjoy it.

[squatter]

I don’t know what information Griffiths provided to North Korea? But if that information was to pose a threat to the United States, I do not think it would be available on the Internet.

That's the point of contention. To hear Vitalik Buterin tell it, Griffith didn't provide any information that wasn't already publicly available. He's suggesting that the arrest was essentially for speaking at a blockchain conference.

I don't think what Virgil did gave DRPK any kind of real help in doing anything bad. He *delivered a presentation based on publicly available info about open-source software*. There was no weird hackery "advanced tutoring".

And if there was any indication that it was going in that direction, I would have reacted much more strongly against it.

Griffith applied for permission from the US government to travel to North Korea and attend the conference. He was explicitly denied but went anyway. My feeling is that he is being punished for defying the US government, not because of any real threat to the US.

[CryptoBry]

Posting bail was a good sign meaning that the judge ruled in favor of him that there was doubtful evidence to begin with.

No, it's just an indication that the court doesn't consider him to be a flight risk. My understanding of the sanctions is that Griffith needed explicit approval from the Department of State to travel to North Korea and provide technical information. The US government denied him permission and explicitly warned him not to go. I'm fairly sure it's a slam dunk case for the government.

I think this is one big problem with some people in the cryptocurrency industry. They think that since they are in cryptocurrency, they can already do anything they wanted to do. The man was aware that no grant or permission whatsoever was at hand and there can be consequences if he will go without the required permit. I think that law is very simple but sometimes stupidity can also be common anywhere. Now, of course, he has to proved that he never violated the law with what he did. People who think that there is a problem with the law better start a cause to amend that law rather than broke it. Now, having said those, I don't think there is really that big need for anyone to be giving a cryptocurrency lecture in North Korea as this is one country that has been exploiting this industry for millions for the past many years, in fact it is even North Korea that should be invited to lecture us and maybe trained us to do successful hacking.

[Harlot]

Its normal for him to be released pending trial it shows that the US government as much as they want to make him face the law he allegedly violated, it still needs to be done following due process. During the trial which I hope would not be done within close doors so that everyone can see the law he violated and how he was able to help the Korean violated sanctions. We will be waiting...

Well there are cases where the accused cannot post baile due to them being a flight risk or something which in this case Virgil Griffith is not one of them and it will take a whole lot of convincing for the judge not to release him temporarily. I'm pretty sure that Virgil has a pretty good chance of the judge not finding him guilty if Virgil's lawyer pointed that the US lacks evidence and what they are doing is just a witch hunt like what they have done in the past to other people and entities related in the industry.

[TRONTON]

I don’t know what information Griffiths provided to North Korea? But if that information was to pose a threat to the United States, I do not think it would be available on the Internet.
Also, I don’t know why the matter was taken care of, that it is the detention of an American citizen by his government. cryotocurrencies have no involvement in this matter.
The situation will differ if the matter is related to the ether currency.

No one knows what he is doing internally, but what is clear is that the FBI has accused what he did at the cryptocurrency and blockchain conferences there having the potential to fool sanctions related to money laundering.

My question is, if Griffith travels to a country that is favored by the US with the same destination, will it make a difference or not. If not, then he is no different from other victims of political prisoners.

[coolcoinz]

They just ruined Virgil’s thanksgiving, and I kinda lost my full respect to the US government.

That implies that you had respect for the US government until now. That's pretty amazing. Want to share how you achieved that? Respect for the government that wages wars all around the world and is involved in everything from liberating communist nations to raiding countries for oil.

I met him in person in Boracay too (he was wearing Bitconnect shirt that time lol), and he was a fun guy to talk to, that you cannot be bored.

Great choice. Somebody should tell the judge to be more strict because of former scam shilling by the defendant