Programmer arrested by U.S. authorities after North Korea cryptocurrency talk

Programmer Virgil Griffith, known for his project WikiScanner as well as his recent work for the Ethereum Foundation, has been arrested for "assisting North Korea in evading sanctions," the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced Friday. 

Griffith was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, the announcement said. He gave a blockchain-related lecture at a conference in North Korea, called the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference, "in or about" April 2019. 

According to the criminal complaint against Griffith, the U.S. Department of State had denied him permission to travel to North Korea, thus violating U.S. sanctions against the country.  Read more...