Two siblings with backgrounds in computer science and mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were apprehended yesterday on charges in the United States for orchestrating an advanced scheme targeting the integrity of the Ethereum blockchain, resulting in the theft of $25 million worth of cryptocurrency as reported by Reuters
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan labeled the strategy conducted by Anton Peraire-Bueno, aged 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, aged 28, as “innovative,” marking the first instance of such fraudulent activity leading to criminal charges in the U.S. They allegedly executed the intricate theft in April 2023, siphoning $25 million from traders within a mere 12 seconds by illicitly gaining access to pending transactions and manipulating the movement of cryptocurrency.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams expressed, “As we allege, the defendants’ scheme raises serious concerns about the integrity of the blockchain.”
The indictment accuses them of conspiring to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiring to commit money laundering. Anton Peraire-Bueno was detained in Boston, while James Peraire-Bueno was apprehended in New York.
Both brothers had attended MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where, according to prosecutors, they honed their expertise in computer science and mathematics, laying the groundwork for their fraudulent activities.
The indictment asserts that over several months, the Peraire-Bueno brothers schemed to manipulate and interfere with the protocols governing transaction validation for inclusion on the Ethereum blockchain, a public ledger documenting each cryptocurrency transaction. Prosecutors claim they accomplished this by exploiting a vulnerability in the code of the MEV-boost software, widely utilized by Ethereum network validators tasked with verifying transaction validity before adding them to the blockchain.
Following the heist, prosecutors allege the brothers rebuffed requests for returning the funds and instead took measures to launder and conceal the stolen cryptocurrency.
