Griffith reached the end of his sentence for violating US sanctions by presenting blockchain knowledge in North Korea. Meanwhile, Argentina’s President Javier Milei faces a congressional probe over his alleged involvement in the LIBRA meme coin scandal. In another high-profile crypto case, SafeMoon CEO Braden Karony is seeking to dismiss charges against him by referring a recent DOJ directive discouraging regulatory overreach in crypto enforcement.
Virgil Griffith Leaves Prison
Ethereum researcher Virgil Griffith was released from prison custody as of April 9, according to confirmation from the Bureau of Prison officials. While he is no longer behind bars, Griffith will remain in a halfway house for several weeks as he prepares to complete the next steps of his parole process. This is according to crypto developer Brantly Millegan.
Griffith’s legal troubles began in 2019 when he was arrested for delivering a lecture in North Korea on blockchain technology and its potential to circumvent US sanctions. The US government accused him of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by allegedly providing the country with "highly technical information," even though the contents of his presentation were said to be publicly available online.
Griffith giving his controversial 2019 lecture in North Korea
The case shed some light on the growing friction between blockchain innovation and national security concerns, and also raised some serious questions about the boundaries of free speech and technological education in a globally regulated environment. Griffith's situation also sparked widespread debate over how the US government enforces sanctions laws in the digital age and how developers engaging in open-source projects may inadvertently cross legal lines.
A US grand jury formally indicted Griffith in January of 2020 for conspiring to violate the IEEPA. He initially pleaded not guilty, and his defense argued that sharing publicly accessible information should not be considered a criminal act. Despite the defense’s efforts, Griffith ultimately accepted a plea deal in September of 2021, admitting guilt in exchange for a reduced sentence.
In April 2022, he was sentenced to 63 months in prison and fined $100,000. However, his legal journey was not over In April of 2024, Griffith’s lawyers filed a motion to reduce his sentence, but the move was very strongly opposed by prosecutors who held firm that his actions endangered national security. Nevertheless, Judge Kevin Castel ruled in July 2024 to cut the sentence to 56 months. This paved the way for Griffith’s eventual release and transition back to civilian life.
Argentina President Faces Crypto Scandal Probe
While Griffith is trying to escape the clutches of the law, others are not so lucky. Argentinian lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of opening an investigation into President Javier Milei’s alleged involvement in the LIBRA cryptocurrency scandal.
The motion passed with 128 votes in favor, 93 against, and seven abstentions. Although a similar proposal previously failed to gain traction in the Senate, mounting concerns about the president’s possible role in promoting a controversial meme coin reignited political scrutiny.
Session in the lower house Chamber of Deputies
The controversy began when Milei used his massive social media following of 3.8 million users to promote the LIBRA token, which rapidly surged in price to $5 and briefly achieved a $4 billion market capitalization. The promotion raised alarms among critics who argued that the president lent undue legitimacy to what they now describe as a rug-pull scam.
Among the most vocal opponents are lawyer Jonatan Baldiviezo, engineer María Eva Koutsovitis, economist Claudio Lozano, and Marcos Zelaya. Together, they filed a legal complaint accusing the president of fraud and complicity in an illicit scheme.
According to Baldiviezo, Milei’s public endorsement helped facilitate what he referred to as an “illicit association” with the token’s creators. The NGO Observatorio del Derecho a la Ciudad agreed with these claims, and accused Milei of backing a fraudulent cryptocurrency that left more than 40,000 investors collectively more than $4 billion in the red. Blockchain analysis from February also revealed that the pump-and-dump scheme led to direct financial losses of $251 million for affected traders. Among the wallets that realized gains or losses greater than $1,000, over 86% ended up selling at a loss.
Despite the circulating evidence, Milei denied promoting the LIBRA token in mid-February, and said that he had merely “spread the word” rather than directly endorsing it. Nonetheless, screenshots and blockchain data contradict this claim, and indicated his social media activity played a crucial role in driving public attention to the token.
To complicate things even more, allegations arose that the promotion may have involved Milei’s sister, Karina Milei. In leaked messages from Hayden Davis, a reported contributor to the LIBRA project, Davis claimed he could control the president’s public behavior by funneling payments to his sister. In one message that was sent to a crypto investment executive, Davis wrote that he could have Milei “tweet and meet in person and do promo,” allegedly adding, “I send $$ to his sister and he does whatever I say and does what I want.”
SafeMoon Chief Uses DOJ Directive to Fight Charges
Braden John Karony, CEO of the embattled crypto firm SafeMoon, is seeking to have the federal case against him dismissed by pointing to a recent directive from the US Department of Justice. In an April 9 letter to Judge Eric Komitee, Karony’s attorney Nicholas Smith referenced a memo that was issued two days earlier by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which disbanded the DOJ’s crypto unit and instructed prosecutors to step back from enforcement actions that effectively impose regulatory frameworks on digital assets.
Blanche’s memo pointed out that the Department of Justice is not a regulator of digital assets and advised against pursuing charges under securities or commodities laws when wire fraud or other charges are applicable. In a footnote, Karony’s legal team acknowledged that the DOJ might still pursue such cases if a party seeks to defend a crypto asset as a security, but clarified that Karony does not hold any such interest.
The DOJ and SEC jointly charged Karony, along with SafeMoon founder Kyle Nagy and CTO Thomas Smith, in November of 2023 with securities violations, wire fraud, and money laundering. Prosecutors allege that the trio misappropriated close to $200 million in investor funds and withdrew those assets from the project for personal gain.
Karony’s latest legal maneuver is not his first attempt to avoid prosecution. In February, he requested a delay in the trial after arguing that potential changes to crypto policy under President Donald Trump could impact the proceedings. That same month, Thomas Smith changed his plea to guilty and admitted to participating in the fraudulent scheme, while Nagy is still a fugitive. He is believed to be in Russia.
SafeMoon filed for bankruptcy in December of 2023 after the dual lawsuits were filed by the DOJ and SEC. Earlier that year, the project also suffered a big hack, though the perpetrator later agreed to return 80% of the stolen funds.
