The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has arrested two brothers on suspicion of orchestrating an attack on the Ethereum blockchain and stealing $25 million worth of cryptocurrency.
Anton Peraire-Bueno of Boston and James Peraire-Bueno of New York are charged with wire fraud, wire fraud and criminal conspiracy. money laundering.
12 seconds Ethereum exploit
of Department of Justice indictment The defendants allege that they fraudulently exploited the integrity of the Ethereum blockchain to obtain substantial amounts of money within a short 12-second time frame. The brothers were arrested in Boston and New York and are scheduled to appear before judges in their respective districts.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the alleged scheme was “technically sophisticated”, well-planned and executed within seconds.
The indictment reveals that the defendants were involved in a conspiracy. exploit For several months, I leveraged my knowledge of computer science and mathematics, as well as my expertise in cryptocurrency trading, to work with the Ethereum blockchain protocol.
Anton Perer-Bueno and James Perer-Bueno gained unauthorized access by tampering with pending transactions, altering Ethereum price movements, and ultimately extorting 25 million yen from unsuspecting victims. I stole a dollar.
Brothers given maximum prison sentences
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, emphasized the importance of the case, saying the defendants’ actions call into question the integrity of blockchain.
The indictment emphasizes the defendant’s claims Abuse of the protocol Trusted by “millions of Ethereum users around the world.”
Although this type of scheme to manipulate the Ethereum blockchain is new, prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have vowed to pursue those who attack the financial system.
They stressed that no matter how sophisticated the fraud or unique the methods used, authorities will hold perpetrators accountable.
Thomas Fatrusso, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-CI New York Field Office, emphasized that the agency complied with the investigation. flow of funds In this case, “cutting-edge technology” and traditional research methods are used both on and off the blockchain.
Fattorusso highlighted the alleged manipulation of the Ethereum blockchain in which the defendants illegally accessed and altered pending transactions in order to steal cryptocurrencies from victims. Mr. Fattorusso further argued that:
These brothers conducted an unprecedented operation on the Ethereum blockchain by illegally accessing pending transactions, altering the movement of electronic currency, and ultimately stealing $25 million in cryptocurrencies from their victims. It is said that he did this.
If convicted, Anton Perer-Bueno and James Perer-Bueno could face maximum sentences. prison sentence 20 years per count.
At the time of this report, Ethereum was trading at $2,982, indicating a 3% increase in price over the past 24 hours. This uptrend follows Bitcoin, which soared 5.5% in the same period to reclaim the $65,000 milestone.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
