Did This Crypto Guru Help North Korea Fund Its Weapons Program?

Virgil Griffith is a hotshot programmer from Tuscaloosa, Alabama who was an integral developer on Ethereum, the 2nd biggest cryptocurrency in the world. He has an almost evangelical belief in the utopian possibilities of decentralized finance. And that is supposedly why he made an illegal trip to the dangerous rogue nation of North Korea, to speak at a Blockchain Cryptocurrency conference being held there. The FBI thinks there was much more to it than that, and now Virgil is locked up in a federal penitentiary in Allenwood, Pennsylvania for conspiring with the Hermit Kingdom. So, why did he really go, and is Virgil Griffith the nerd who worked for North Korea? This episode is from the series Cowboy Kings of Crypto which was created in 2022. Click here to subscribe to VICE: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: vice.com/ More videos from the VICE network: www.fb.com/vicevideo Click here to get the best of VICE daily: bit.ly/1SquZ6v Like VICE on Facebook: fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: twitter.com/vice Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/vice Follow us on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@vice?lang=en The VICE YouTube Network: VICE: youtube.com/VICE MUNCHIES: youtube.com/MUNCHIES VICE News: youtube.com/VICENews VICE TV:    / @vice-tv   VICE Life: youtube.com/Broadly Noisey: youtube.com/Noisey Motherboard: youtube.com/MotherboardTV VICE Sports: youtube.com/NOC Waypoint: youtube.com/WaypointVICE

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