MIT graduate brothers manipulate Ethereum MEV robot to steal $25 million in cryptocurrency, judge rejects withdrawal request

According to Cointelegraph, US District Judge Jessica Clarke has rejected the withdrawal request of Anton and James Peraire Bueno brothers, determining that their theft of $25 million in cryptocurrency by manipulating the Ethereum network MEV robot constitutes telecom fraud. This pair of MIT graduate brothers completed this unprecedented vulnerability exploitation in just 12 seconds, using a four step plan of "bait, block, search, and spread" and setting up 16 Ethereum validators to execute the plan. Although the brothers argued that their behavior complied with the system code rules, the judge believed that the government had fully charged them with behavior that met the standards of fraud. The case is currently in the pre-trial motion stage and is expected to be tried in October 2025.