Two brothers are facing criminal charges in a US federal court over an alleged scheme involving blockchain-based trading bots.
The trial, which began on October 15 in New York, is being closely followed by many in the cryptocurrency industry.
According to a report by Inner City Press, Anton and James Peraire-Bueno are accused of carrying out a trading tactic that uses MEV (maximal extractable value) bots on the Ethereum
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US prosecutors said their actions led to the removal of around $25 million through deceptive means. They alleged the pair misled other traders in a quick and targeted operation, which has been described in court as a kind of “bait and switch”.
However, the defense team argued that the real targets were other bots designed to profit from transactions, and that what the brothers did was simply a form of market strategy, not a crime.
The defense also pointed out that the cryptocurrency earnings were converted into US dollars and properly taxed. One of their attorneys, Katherine Trefz, explained that the brothers paid $6 million in taxes before being arrested at home.
The transactions at the center of the case occurred in April 2023, but the arrests were not made until May 2024, after months of technical planning and research by the defendants.
Authorities charge the men with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to receive stolen property, and money laundering. Each charge carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years if the defendants are found guilty.
Robert Barr and Barry Letham recently appeared in the Glasgow High Court over an alleged plan to steal around $23 million in cryptocurrency. What was the outcome of the trial? Read the full story.
