You're focused entirely too much on the crypto aspect of this. He conspired to aid a country in invading sanctions of the United States. He asked the US State D

You're focused entirely too much on the crypto aspect of this. He conspired to aid a country in invading sanctions of the United States. He asked the US State Department for permission before going, meaning he knew there could be potential legal consequences ahead of time. The State Department denied his request. He went anyway, provided information that the United States could prove he knew could be used to evade sanctions, and then returned to the United States after committing the crime. The crime has very little to do with the actual content of the presentation or the information he provided, or crypto whatsoever.