Crypto heist: MIT brothers arrested for stealing US$25 million in 12 seconds
- Two brothers, 24 and 28, are charged with fraud over alleged Ethereum theft
- It was the first time such a fraud had been the subject of US criminal charges
Two brothers who studied at MIT were charged with exploiting a weakness in the Ethereum blockchain and stealing US$25 million in 12 seconds, in what prosecutors called a first-of-its-kind caper.
Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, were charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan with fraud and money laundering offences. They are accused of carrying out the lightning-fast heist, plotted over the course of months, from their keyboards last year.
“The brothers, who studied computer science and math at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, allegedly used their specialised skills and education to tamper with and manipulate the protocols relied upon by millions of Ethereum users across the globe,” Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
The two studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with Anton graduating in February with a Bachelor of Science in computer science and math and James graduating with a Master of Science in aeronautics and astronautics in 2021.
Lawyers for the Peraire-Bueno brothers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The brothers, who were arrested Tuesday in Boston and New York.
The US Justice Department has been focused on stamping out fraud and misconduct in the cryptocurrency industry, winning convictions of several high-profile industry executives, most notably Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX, who also went to MIT.
