The Ethereum foundation researcher Virgil Griffith has recently been released, after having been denied bail on December 26. The cryptocurrency news now show that despite his release, he has a $1 million bond on the condition that he stays out of California. The ETH researcher Griffith was first arrested on November 28 for reportedly traveling to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to deliver a presentation on dodging sanctions via crypto and blockchain.
As the publication Inner City Press reported recently, the 36-year old Griffith has been released after a bail appeal hearing today. This hearing took place in front of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the judge Vernon S. Broderick who was the authority that granted a $1 million bail and ordered for Griffith to be released on the condition that he “stays with his parents in Alabama for moral suasion.”
For many, this court decision is strange because the ETH researcher Griffith attempted to procure a St. Kitts passport before. The bail conditions now allow for Griffith to use his passport and travel to countries such as Canada, Mexico and certain regions of the Caribbean such as St. Kitts and Nevis. He will also be able to stay in touch with his lawyers and the $1 million bond is apparently secured by relatives’ homes.
For those of you who don’t know him from the ETH news, Griffith is an ETH researcher who was charged with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) carrying a maximum term of 20 years in prison. At the time, the US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:
“As alleged, Virgil Griffith provided highly technical information to North Korea, knowing that this information could be used to help North Korea launder money and evade sanctions. In allegedly doing so, Griffith jeopardized the sanctions that both Congress and the president have enacted to place maximum pressure on North Korea’s dangerous regime.”
Even though the ETH researcher Griffith was denied bail on December 27, things have reversed right now and he has new rights as per the latest decision of the judge Vernon S. Broderick. We will continue to update our readers about the recent happenings on this case.
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