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: What interest does North Korea have in cryptocurrency?
Griffith: Probably avoiding sanctions... who knows."
It looks like it wasn't just speaking at a conference after being denied permission from the US that got him in trouble, it looks like both before and after the trip he was working on a variety of ways to get the North Korean government more onboard with cryptocurrency, including discussions about mining ventures, moving funds in and out of the country, and offering connections with other cryptocurrency people.
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: What interest does North Korea have in cryptocurrency? Griffith: Probably avoiding sanctions... who knows."
It looks like it wasn't just speaking at a conference after being denied permission from the US that got him in trouble, it looks like both before and after the trip he was working on a variety of ways to get the North Korean government more onboard with cryptocurrency, including discussions about mining ventures, moving funds in and out of the country, and offering connections with other cryptocurrency people.