Former Ethereum Developer Virgil Griffith Released from Prison, Seeks Presidential Pardon

Key Points:

• Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum developer, was released from prison after his sentence was reduced to 56 months.

• Griffith was imprisoned for attending a crypto conference in North Korea in 2019, violating sanctions against the country.

• He is now seeking a pardon.

Virgil Griffith, the former Ethereum developer sentenced for attending a crypto conference in North Korea in 2019, has been released from prison and is transitioning to a halfway house, as confirmed by his lawyer, Alexander Urbelis.

Urbelis, who serves as general counsel for Ethereum Name Service and has also represented Griffith legally, posted a photo on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. The image shows Griffith alongside his parents outside FCI Milan, a low-security prison in Michigan where he completed part of his 56-month sentence.

"I am thrilled to announce that VIRGIL IS OUT!" Urbelis wrote. "What a happy day."

Griffith was arrested in November 2019, seven months after attending a cryptocurrency conference in Pyongyang, North Korea. During the event, he gave a presentation on Ethereum and discussed how cryptocurrency could be used to bypass sanctions against the country. Although Griffith initially contested the charge, he pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate international sanctions in 2021.

A New York judge sentenced Virgil Griffith to a $100,000 fine and 63 months in prison—just over five years—significantly less than the 20-year sentence he could have faced if convicted at trial. Last year, Griffith’s legal team succeeded in reducing his sentence to 56 months, citing his status as a first-time offender.

Griffith has been incarcerated since mid-2021. Although he was initially released on bail, he was sent back to jail in New York after violating his bail conditions by attempting to access one of his cryptocurrency accounts to pay his legal fees.

Griffith’s lawyer, Urbelis, mentioned that they hope Griffith will soon be moved from the halfway house in Baltimore to home confinement. However, he emphasized that long-term challenges remain. “Virgil will still face heavy probation for several years, though the specifics aren’t clear,” Urbelis explained. “Moreover, the Department of Commerce has imposed strict export restrictions on him that will last until 2032, creating significant difficulties in his life.”

These restrictions prevent Griffith from participating in any transactions involving software or technology that could be exported from the U.S., which severely limits his ability to return to the cryptocurrency industry.

Griffith is pursuing a pardon from the Trump administration, and Urbelis indicated that the process is ongoing, with substantial progress made so far.

“We are requesting a pardon to rectify what we believe was an unfair prosecution, one that we consider to be fundamentally un-American from the beginning. This would improve Virgil’s life and allow him the opportunity to contribute to a world that greatly needs individuals like him—innovators and problem-solvers,” Urbelis stated.

Trump has previously granted pardons to several individuals convicted of crypto-related crimes, including Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, and three people convicted of violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Other figures in the crypto world, such as former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted of fraud, are also seeking pardons.