Two brothers in the twenties were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering after allegedly stealing $25 million in Ethereum cryptocurrency.
Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, of Boston, and James Pepaire-Bueno, 28, of New York, were allegedly able to obtain the stolen $25 million in cryptocurrency by literally attacking the Ethereum blockchain.
The United States Department of Justice, which brought the charges against the two men, stated in a press release that they were able to steal all of those millions “within approximately 12 seconds.”
12 SECONDS?!
“As alleged in today’s indictment, the Peraire-Bueno brothers stole $25 million in Ethereum cryptocurrency through a technologically sophisticated, cutting-edge scheme they plotted for months and executed in seconds,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
“Unfortunately for the defendants, their alleged crimes were no match for Department of Justice prosecutors and IRS agents, who unraveled this first-of-its kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme. As cryptocurrency markets continue to evolve, the Department will continue to root out fraud, support victims, and restore confidence to these markets.”
Good luck with that.
As alleged in the indictment, Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Pepaire-Bueno are brothers who studied mathematics and computer science at one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Using the specialized skills developed during their education, as well as their expertise in cryptocurrency trading, Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Pepaire-Bueno exploited the very integrity of the Ethereum blockchain in order to fraudulently obtain approximately $25 million worth of cryptocurrency from victim cryptocurrency traders (the “Exploit”).
Through the Exploit, which is believed to be the very first of its kind, Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Pepaire-Bueno manipulated and tampered with the process and protocols by which transactions are validated and added to the Ethereum blockchain. In doing so, they fraudulently gained access to pending private transactions and used that access to alter certain transactions and obtain their victims’ cryptocurrency.
Once the defendants stole their victims’ cryptocurrency, they rejected requests to return the stolen cryptocurrency and took numerous steps to hide their ill-gotten gains.
The DOJ goes on to say that the brothers “meticulously planned the Exploit over the course of several months.”
So it took them several months to plan it and around 12 seconds to actually steal the $25 million. This is quite the security system.
Isn’t cryptocurrency supposed to be safer and more secure than real money? Why don’t we ever hear about someone stealing $25 million in actual real money, but there are stories like this that pop up all the time?
But yeah, crypto is the future of money still, right?
If convicted, the brothers each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.
The post Brothers Charged With Stealing $25M In Cryptocurrency In ‘Approximately 12 Seconds’ appeared first on BroBible.