MIT brothers' $25 million Ethereum fraud trial declared a mistrial

Foresight News: According to Reuters, a U.S. federal judge has declared a mistrial in the $25 million Ethereum fraud case involving two MIT graduate brothers, as the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Peraire-Bueno, both graduates of MIT, exploited a vulnerability in the MEV-Boost relay in 2023 to steal over $20 million worth of Ethereum from an MEV Searcher. The two brothers were indicted in May 2024.

During the trial on the 15th of last month, Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Nees argued that the brothers lured trading bots into a carefully designed trap and drained the accounts of other cryptocurrency traders. However, the defense attorneys countered that the brothers' trading strategy was legal and "in line with the principles of the current highly competitive trading environment."