The Ethereum Foundation research scientist, Virgil Griffith, who was arrested for allegedly helping North Korea with sanction evasion, has just been released. He is lucky to have been released on a $1 million bond, just before the New Year starts.

The scientist was charged for violating federal law after he went to North Korea to present on the use of cryptocurrency and blockchain. It was alleged that his presentation helped North Korea to evade sanctions.

It was reported that, a U.S. District Court judge of the Southern District of New York, Vernon S. Broderick ordered the release of Griffith. The condition being that, Griffith will put up a $1 million bond and stay with his parents for moral suasion. The report also stated that, the suspect’s father and sister both offered their houses as collateral for the bond.

Griffith was denied bail on December 26 due to his claims of renouncing his U.S. citizenship and allegedly attempting to establish a money-laundering operation in North Korea. His lawyer, Brain Klein, argued that Griffith did not formally renounce anything. Klein said his client was charged with violating sanctions but not money laundering.

Ethereum has remained supportive to Griffith, though he has been suspended from the Ethereum Foundation, says Klein.

Judge Broderick says he has the 302s from interviews in May and November, but that Griffith's lawyer Klein says he doesn't have. Klein begins argument, notes Griffith's father is here. — Inner City Press (@innercitypress) December 30, 2019

On December 1, Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder, tweeted his support and joined in signing a petition for Griffith’s release.

I refuse to take the convenient path of throwing Virgil under the bus, because I firmly believe that that would be wrong. I'm signing. Reasoning below.https://t.co/E44p5caeJO — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 1, 2019

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