Cryptocurrencies offer the masses an escape from traditional finance. Other than being slow and outdated, the traditional financial system is plagued with numerous internal manipulations that make it unattractive.

The sad part is that thanks to certain players, including Coinbase and other bad actors, we're seeing the crypto market head in the same direction as the traditional system.

As more suits get involved with crypto, the entire system also becomes more corrupt. A safe haven that was supposed to keep us safe from the government is slowly turning into yet another government plaything.

At the start of the Ukraine-Russia debacle, I highlighted how crypto companies getting involved and picking sides is, on the surface at least, one of the most anti-crypto things ever. Crypto is for the people and meddling of world leaders shouldn't sway opinions.

Fast forward to today, and millions of Russians may not have access to their crypto wallets and such. Now all I'm saying is that this is an unhealthy precedence that the industry is setting and this also gives the government more power.

For the most part, absolutely nothing has changed. Governments may smile at you on the outside, but they still see crypto as a threat and so, it should never mix with politics.

Man is a political animal, and anything that offers power tends to mix up with politics in the long run. However, the question is, where do we draw the line? When do we say, enough is enough, and go back to the reason why we're in this industry, in the first place?

Man gets arrested for talking about crypto

There's no doubt that the USA and North Korea have beef. So, citizens of both countries have to really watch their step or you could end up in prison, or worse.

Anyway, today's episode of crypto getting in bed with politics is brought to you by Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum Dev who was talking about crypto at a blockchain conference in North Korea. Cointelegraph was one of the platforms that carried this fascinating and mildly funny story.

The former Ethereum dev and crypto bro was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison and he will also pay a $100K fine for good measure. Oh yeah, I forgot to add that I might have simplified his charges by saying "talking about crypto at a conference".

On Tuesday, April 12, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York handed down the decision. Judge Castel stated that “what you see here is intentionality, a deliberate, willful intent to violate the sanctions' regime,” adding that the crime was made worse because Griffith had a “desire to educate people on how to evade sanctions.”_src

So the terms of the beef between USA and North Korea pretty much outlaws citizens of either countries from being nice to each other. According to the sanction, US citizens aren't allowed to trade goods and services, which these days, include information.

Isn't it crazy that a conflict between "our leaders" now determines the interpersonal relationships we can have? So, like, if I was an American, I should just not like North Korea because politicians say I shouldn't?

Anyway, Griffith was talking about crypto at a conference and in his talk, he mentioned how North Korea could circumvent some sanctions and stuff. As covered by Cointelegraph;

At the conference he gave presentations dressed in a North Korean suit about how the country could use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions and launder money. He also presented methods on how smart contracts could be used to benefit the country in nuclear weapons negotiations with the U.S.

Well, after a drawn-out case, Griffith was slapped with a 63 month sentence and that fine. Naturally, the judge and jury will have no compassion for him because, well, there's institutional disdain for everything North Korea.

He even tried to play the mental illness card, claiming he had both Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCD? @acidyo is that you?) and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) but the judge was like "nice try boy but you were on that bullshit intentionally" then slapped him with jail time.

Now my man learnt the hard way that crypto and politics are quite mixed. In fact, with the way things are going, crypto is just going to be absorbed by the government and they'll regulate it until it is just another asset in the market.

The inhibited growth that the crypto industry has experienced in the past couple of years will surreptitiously wither to nought. It will just be another thing that the government controls.

In summary

The crypto industry is quite young and there's still a lot of learning and unlearning to do. Getting in bed with government and politics could work in our favour but we have to draw a line.

If crypto is going to get in bed with the government/politics, then the industry will need representatives that are pro-crypto. We need reps that will be part of the government and help the crypto industry to tell the government that we need the government to kindly stay away from crypto.

Politicians have a lot to juggle as they fight wars, handle the economy and prevent their secret families from going public. Can't you just leave crypto alone and let this one slide?

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