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Virgil Griffith, a key contributor during Ethereum’s early development, has been released after serving nearly five years in prison over a controversial trip to North Korea in 2019.
Former Ethereum Programmer Virgil Griffith Released After Nearly 5 Years in Prison
Former Ethereum Programmer Virgil Griffith Released After Nearly 5 Years in Prison
Virgil Griffith Freed After Nearly 5 Years Behind Bars
According to a post by @BrantlyMillegan on X (formerly Twitter), Virgil Griffith — one of Ethereum’s prominent early developers — was officially released this morning. He will stay temporarily in a halfway house for recently released inmates for a few weeks, after which he will be granted parole with certain job-related restrictions.
The same account also shared a photo of Griffith with his parents taken outside the prison shortly after his release.
The Pyongyang Trip and Charges of Sanctions Evasion
The incident began in April 2019, when Griffith traveled to Pyongyang to attend a blockchain conference titled "Blockchains for Peace." Although Griffith claimed his intent was to promote technological progress, U.S. prosecutors argued that he had shared technical knowledge on how blockchain and cryptocurrencies could be used to circumvent economic sanctions.
One of the key pieces of evidence presented in court was a photo of Griffith dressed in a North Korean-style outfit, standing in front of a board that read “No Sanctions” with a smiley face symbol — something prosecutors saw as a clear political statement. He was arrested in November 2019 and had been held in custody ever since.
Image of Virgil Griffith during his trip to North Korea provided to the court by the prosecutor.
Sentencing and Early Release
Griffith was sentenced in 2022 to 63 months in prison, after the U.S. government charged him with violating international sanctions by participating in the North Korea conference. Although the original penalty could have been as high as 20 years, Griffith accepted a plea deal in 2021, reducing his sentence and agreeing to pay a $100,000 fine. In July 2024, Judge Kevin Castel further reduced his sentence to 56 months.
Contributions to Ethereum and Beyond
Griffith joined the Ethereum Foundation in 2016 and made significant contributions to the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and other protocol-level innovations. He is considered one of the “OG” members of the Ethereum community.
Outside the crypto space, Griffith holds a PhD in neuroscience and computation from Caltech, and is known for creating WikiScanner, a tool that tracks anonymous edits on Wikipedia. He also collaborated with the late Aaron Swartz to develop Tor2web, which allows access to the dark web via regular browsers.
Context of the Release
Griffith’s release and parole come amid broader conversations about presidential pardons and sentence reductions under the Trump administration, including actions involving the founding team of BitMEX and Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road. There are also rumors circulating that Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, may be seeking a pardon as well.
