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Two brothers accused of $25 million Ethereum blockchain robbery
Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, of Boston, and James Pepaire-Bueno, 28, of New York, were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
According to DOJthe brothers allegedly orchestrated a plan that exploited the integrity of the Ethereum blockchain to fraudulently obtain around $25 million in cryptocurrency in just 12 seconds.
Key points:
- Authorities accuse the Peraire-Bueno brothers of manipulating and tampering with the Ethereum blockchain.
- The alleged scheme allowed the brothers to access pending private transactions and alter them to steal victims’ cryptocurrency.
- The brothers meticulously planned the exploit for several months, studying the behaviors of victim traders and creating shell companies.
- If convicted, each brother could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each charge.
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The brothers allegedly used their educational skills to tamper with the Ethereum blockchain
US Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York highlighted the novelty of the alleged scheme. He noticed it “calls into question the very integrity of the blockchain.”
The brothers allegedly used their specialized skills and education “tampering with and manipulating the protocols relied on by millions of Ethereum users around the world.”
The Peraire-Bueno brothers meticulously planned the undertaking for several months. According to the indictment, the two studied their victims’ trading behaviors and created shell companies and multiple private cryptocurrency addresses to hide their identities and the stolen proceeds.
They also used foreign cryptocurrency exchanges with limited “know-your-customer” procedures to launder their criminal proceeds.
The successful execution of the exploit in just 12 seconds highlights the vulnerability of even the most secure and transparent financial systems to sophisticated attacks.
Vignesh Karunanidhi
Vignesh Karunanidhi
Writer of the Via del Latte
Vignesh has been an experienced professional in the cryptocurrency industry since 2017. He has been writing for over 6 years and specializes in writing and editing various types of crypto content, including news articles, long-form articles, and blog posts, all focused on sharing the beauty of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.