Brothers arrested after DOJ says they stole $25 million in crypto in 12 seconds in Ethereum blockchain attack

Two brothers were arrested this week after prosecutors say they exploited the Ethereum blockchain to steal $25 million worth of crypto in about 12 seconds.

Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, of Boston, and James Pepaire-Bueno, 28, of New York, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice. They will go in front of magistrate judges in Massachusetts and New York later today, prosecutors said. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called the charges the first of its kind. 

"This alleged scheme was novel and has never before been charged. But as the indictment makes clear, no matter how sophisticated the fraud or how new the techniques used to accomplish it, the career prosecutors of this office will be relentless in pursuing people who attack the integrity of all financial systems," Williams said in a statement. 

The case involved "maximal extractable value," or MEV, the maximum amount of value that can be extracted from a given DeFi protocol or smart contract by a user or group of users. MEV has become a crucial factor in determining the profitability of DeFi strategies and has led to the emergence of new tools and techniques for maximizing returns.

The brothers targeted traders who are searchers who operate MEV bots that focus on crypto arbitrage trading, according to the indictment. 

The brothers face 20 years in prison

The two siblings, who studied mathematics and computer science at "prestigious universities," used their expertise in crypto trading to exploit the Ethereum blockchain, prosecutors said. 

"Throughout the planning, execution, and aftermath of the Exploit, Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Pepaire-Bueno also searched online for information about, among other things, how to carry out the Exploit, ways to conceal their involvement in the Exploit, cryptocurrency exchanges with limited 'know your customer' procedures that they could use to launder their criminal proceeds, attorneys with expertise in cryptocurrency cases, extradition procedures, and the very crimes charged in the indictment," the DOJ said. 

If convicted, each brother faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.