The U.S. Department of Justice reported that Virgil Griffith was sentenced to 63 months in prison for conspiring to provide cryptocurrency and blockchain services to North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions. The source says Griffith attended the 2019 Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference despite being denied U.S. permission to travel, and delivered DPRK-approved presentations on how blockchain technology, including smart contracts, could help the DPRK launder money and evade sanctions. Prosecutors also described efforts to develop cryptocurrency infrastructure in North Korea, facilitate cryptocurrency exchange between North and South Korea, recruit other U.S. citizens to provide similar services, and broker introductions to additional blockchain providers. The case matters to DPRK-focused tracking because it documents non-intrusion support activity intended to help the regime use cryptocurrency infrastructure for sanctions evasion and revenue generation.