According to the Reuters report, the United Nations sanctions experts are warning people not to attend a crypto conference in DPRK. Earlier, a UN report showed that North Korea generated an estimated $2 billion in cryptocurrencies to fund its weapons of mass destruction.
80 organizations participated in the North Korean crypto conference last year.
North Korea has been under the UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The sanctions have forced North Korea to fund its nuclear weapons using alternative methods. The Kim Jong-Un regime held a cryptocurrency and blockchain conference in April last year, which was attended by 80 organizations.
One of the attendees was Ethereum researcher Virgil Griffith who has been formally charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Currently, Virgil is out on bail.
North Korea will use crypto to evade sanctions and launder money.
The next crypto conference in North Korea is scheduled for 22-29 Feb, according to its website, and it encourages participants from the USA to join in, and their passports would not be stamped. An excerpt seen by the Reuters from the upcoming annual report by the UN sanctions experts, suggests that these conferences explicitly include discussions of cryptocurrency for sanctions evasions and money laundering.
