Twentysomething MIT Grad Brothers Accused of $25 Million Crypto Heist
If you graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with elite computer skills, the world is your oyster. You can make great money working for a tech company or even more money working on Wall Street. But for Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, the allure of white-collar crime proved too tempting.
The brothers allegedly came up with a scheme that allowed them to pocket a whopping $25 million in just 12 seconds. However, their criminal escapade came to a screeching halt as the feds announced yesterday in a press release that reads like a pulp novel.
“Unfortunately for the defendants, their alleged crimes were no match for Department of Justice prosecutors and IRS agents,” wrote the DOJ. The release also quoted an agent who boasted about solving the crime “with cutting-edge technology and good-ole-fashioned investigative work.”
The case involves a sophisticated explanation by Justice Department lawyers of a new type of alleged crime involving the Ethereum blockchain called “Maximum Extractable Value” (MEV). This practice allows those who construct the blockchain to profit from others’ transactions by packaging them in a block in a certain way.
While MEV is not illegal, the Peraire-Bueno brothers took things a step further by exploiting a bug in a popular software used for MEV. This allowed them to tamper with transactions and ultimately rob unsuspecting Ethereum users.
The incident has shed light on the murky practice of MEV and may lead to calls for reform within the Ethereum community. It also serves as a cautionary tale for those tempted to engage in illegal activities, as the brothers were caught red-handed. In a bizarre twist, evidence revealed that they had conducted web searches on topics like money laundering and financial fraud.
The Peraire-Bueno brothers are not the only MIT grads to be charged with crypto crimes, as the school is also the alma mater of another individual facing similar charges. The case serves as a reminder that even individuals with elite education and skills are not immune to the consequences of their actions.
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