{"id":21538,"date":"2025-04-10T15:47:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=21538"},"modified":"2025-04-10T15:47:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:47:07","slug":"controversial-ethereum-developer-freed-before-full-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=21538","title":{"rendered":"Controversial Ethereum Developer Freed Before Full Sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum developer who worked on the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), has been released from prison<\/a> on parole and relocated to a halfway house.<\/p>\n

Updates posted on X on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, disclosed that Griffith is now starting his return to civilian life after serving some of his sentence for violating US sanctions.<\/p>\n

Ethereum Developer\u2019s Prison Release Confirmed By Sources<\/h2>\n

Brantly Milegan, executive director of Ethereum Identity Foundation, broke the news with a photo of Griffith and his parents outside the prison. Alexander Urbelis, ENS general counsel and part of Griffith\u2019s legal team, confirmed his release from FCI Milan in Michigan.<\/p>\n

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VIRGIL GRIFFITH IS OUT OF PRISON!!!<\/p>\n

just released this morning! he\u2019ll be in a halfway house for a few weeks, and parole after that with work restrictions (so a pardon is still important), but HE IS OUT \"\ud83d\ude4f\"\"\ud83d\ude4f\"\"\ud83d\ude4f\"\"\ud83d\ude4f\"\"\ud83d\ude4f\"\"\ud83d\ude4f\"\"\ud83d\ude4f\"\"\ud83d\ude4f\" pic.twitter.com\/Q4jRZmryGk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 brantly.eth (@BrantlyMillegan) April 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Griffith was arrested in November 2019 after speaking at a cryptocurrency conference in North Korea. Prosecutors claimed his presentation provided information that could help North Korea evade sanctions and launder money.<\/p>\n

From 63 Months To 56: The Sentence Journey<\/h2>\n

In 2022, Griffith was sentenced to 63 months in prison and meted a fine of $100,000 after pleading guilty<\/a> to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In July 2024, US District Judge Kevin Castel lowered his sentence to 56 months, citing him as a first-time offender.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Crypto Return Faces Serious Hurdles<\/p>\n

Griffith himself starts a several-year probation term. His attorneys are fighting to transfer him from the halfway house to home confinement, but returning to regular life is hindered.<\/p>\n

The Department of Commerce placed severe export restrictions on Virgil that will extend until 2032, Urbelis explained. These limits could block his return to the cryptocurrency field.<\/p>\n

Presidential Pardon Possibility Under Trump Administration<\/p>\n

Before joining Ethereum, Griffith earned a Ph.D. from Caltech and created WikiScanner, a tool tracking anonymous Wikipedia edits. He also worked with Aaron Swartz on Tor2web.<\/p>\n

According to Urbelis, Griffith is seeking a pardon from US President Donald Trump. Trump has previously granted clemency to others in crypto-related cases, including Ross Ulbricht and Arthur Hayes.<\/p>\n

The case has triggered debate about sharing open-source information<\/a> versus helping sanctioned nations. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has supported Griffith, even signing a petition calling for his release in 2023.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Thiessen Law Firm<\/em>, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum developer who worked on the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), has been released from prison on parole and relocated to a halfway house. Updates posted on X on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, disclosed that Griffith is now starting his return to civilian life after serving some of his sentence for violating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-21538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}