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US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

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Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#151

Post by boc »

chatmasta wrote: post #48

I met Virgil at an academic workshop back in 2014. We went out in Amsterdam. He was a weird guy, to say the least (he’d probably be the first to agree). He was generally quite affable and obviously highly intelligent. He’s an idiot for this fiasco. But it’s also sad to see him in jail; I don’t see how this benefits society in any way. Five years in prison seems like a disproportionate punishment for an arguably victi…

If you helped smuggle $1M in cash across the NK border you'd also be arrested and convicted for helping to evade sanctions. If anything crypto-enthusiasts should be happy to hear that the US government treats crypto as a legitimate means of moving money between nations, and punishes actors accordingly.

I'm glad he's a nice guy based on your interactions, but he knowingly tried to enrich an totalitarian state that has successfully built offensive nuclear weapons and is actively testing ICBMs. That's insanely anti-social behavior which endangers the lives of millions of innocent people in the region. He deserves those 5 years. You can't hide behind the curtain of victimless crypto-evangelism while also admitting in text convos that you're likely helping them evade sanctions.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#152

Post by kelnos »

qbasic_forever wrote: post #141
istjohn wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I support imprisoning anyone who helps subvert sanctions against a despotic state pursuing nuclear weapons.

Looking forward to see how you'll imprison the German government for continuing to purchase oil from Russia through shell companies like Gazprombank.

I think you don't understand how sanctions work.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#153

Post by samhw »

relativeadv wrote: post #145
qbasic_forever wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking forward to see how you'll imprison the German government for continuing to purchase oil from Russia through shell companies like Gazprombank.

lol, this comment is too much.

Well, he's not wrong, really.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#154

Post by jokethrowaway »

radicaldreamer wrote: post #62
vmception wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. I think they want links because they hadn't seen this case before even though the rest of us have been watching this slow motion trainwreck for some time.

Pretty good rundown here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/crypto-enthusiast-virgil-griff... --- According to his lawyers, after his North Korean speaking engagement, Griffith actually went straight to the U.S. embassy in Singapore, where he was residing at the time, to tell them all about the experience. He also chose to meet with the FBI in Puerto Rico and San Francisco. But after extensive talks, the feds instead sur…

Crypto guy who dreams to become a spy get turned down by FBI and gets arrested for 5 years on top?

Interesting story

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#155

Post by forinti »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #134
behringer wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine knowing literally anything about north Korea and wanting to help that government. He should be put away for life for aiding crimes against humanity.

You can know that North Korean government does bad things but still be against sanctions. It is not self evident that broad sections help the situation or the people of NK.

Exactly. Sanctions against Cuba, Iran and NK have achieved very little. They might even be helping keep the status quo in those countries.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#156

Post by stickfigure »

qbasic_forever wrote: post #141
istjohn wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I support imprisoning anyone who helps subvert sanctions against a despotic state pursuing nuclear weapons.

Looking forward to see how you'll imprison the German government for continuing to purchase oil from Russia through shell companies like Gazprombank.

At the moment that is still legal. The German government may decide to change that in the future.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#157

Post by kayamon »

sofixa wrote: post #92
kayamon wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes they are. Wars are funded via inflation. Bitcoin solves inflation by using computers to allow trading bottled energy online, thereby pulling the funding out from under oligarchs.

> Wars are funded via inflation That's got to be one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. Inflation is a side effect of war, either due money printing to fund ( rare in non-failing countries, bond issues and loans are much more popular) or, more often, due to supply scarcity ( due to more limited trade, redirection of resources to the military, conscription of men for the army). Bitcoin does nothing for either sce…

And what happens if the people can trade without requiring the governments or their monetary policies?

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#158

Post by xtian »

jcrash wrote: post #127
RobertRoberts wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if the news about NK is not entirely unbiased? (I have no proof either way, just asking the question) Edit: People are taking my comment wrong. I am asking this because there are a lot of assumptions people have, I know almost nothing about NK, and the comment I replied to seemed somewhat irrational, a little reactionary and certainly vindictive.

There are many different sources of information about what goes on in NK, including people who have escaped from there.

True: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkUMZS-ZegM

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#159

Post by xtracto »

danielvf wrote: post #71

According to the original complaint, a few months after being interviewed by an FBI agent on returning from his trip to North Korea, Griffith had the following conversation over text messages: Griffith: I need to send 1 [REDACTED UNIT OF CRYPTOCURRENCY] between North and South Korea. Other Guy: "Isn't that in violations of sanctions?" Griffith: It is. A few day later, also in text messages to someone else: Someone: W…

> I need to send 1 [REDACTED UNIT OF CRYPTOCURRENCY] between North and South Korea

I find this fascinating. How can you send any crypto between one country and the other? In reality, everyone who is using crypto is doing the transaction in every country where a validator/node is running. There is no concept of "sending BTC between Mexico and the USA". There may be a concept of someone paying USD money to somebody else to write something in the blockchain (i.e. write a transaction that says to move some BTC from Wallet A to Wallet B).

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#160

Post by tomjen3 »

weego wrote: post #74
sofixa wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but his work was exploring how digital systems can help bring peace to the world Surely nobody is that naive? Wars and sanctions aren't a technical problem that can be "solved" with a "digital system".

As a neurodivergent person in tech, mentoring and MH support, I've met a number of similarly ND people who are indeed convinced that human scale problems are just issues we've not solved with technology yet.

That is so obviously true that denying it is like denying evolution.

If we had one of the those shields from Star Trek, we wouldn't have to worry about NK.

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