The hacker behind the exploit of the decentralized exchange Mango Markets, which caused $110 million in damage, was arrested in Puerto Rico on charges of market manipulation and fraud.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has accused Avraham Eisenberg of knowingly and intentionally participating in a scheme involving artificially manipulating the price of perpetual futures contracts on the Mango Markets cryptocurrency exchange.
Earlier, Eisenberg publicly admitted to the attack on the Mango cryptocurrency exchange, saying that he was involved in a team that "used a high-yield trading strategy." He said he believed all of his actions were "legitimate actions on the open market."
However, the FBI has a different legal assessment of Eisenberg's actions. FBI Special Agent Brandon Racz said that Eisenberg knew that his actions were illegal, because the day after the Mango Markets exploit, Eisenberg flew from the United States to Israel.
"This was an attempt to avoid being detained by law enforcement agencies immediately after revealing a market manipulation scheme," he said.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Eisenberg was arrested on December 26 in Puerto Rico.
In November, Eisenberg tried to repeat his "high-yield trading strategy", this time attacking the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Aave. However, the plan failed. As a result of the price manipulation maneuver, he lost millions of US dollars, as the price actually rose during the attack, resulting in losses due to a significant short position.
***
The trial of Abraham Eisenberg, suspected of attacking the DeFi platform Mango Markets, was postponed to next year. This is evidenced by court documents.
Initially, the meeting was scheduled for December 4. However, the defense requested a reprieve after their client was "unexpectedly transferred" from a New Jersey prison to a Brooklyn detention center on October 26. This is where FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sent in August, and where he is now after being found guilty.
According to the lawyers request, they need more time to study the case file, prepare it, and because of the "huge" amount of evidence presented by the authorities.
The lawyers also stressed that they lost time in connection with the transfer of Eisenberg to Brooklyn. The prosecution, in turn, considered the time allotted for reviewing the documents sufficient.
Judge Arun Subramanian dismissed the prosecutor's office's protests and scheduled a hearing for April 8, 2024.
In October 2022, a group of traders led by Eisenberg attacked the Solana-based DeFi trading platform and withdrew digital assets worth about $116 million. The Mango Markets community supported the deal with the hackers, under the terms of which they returned $69 million, leaving $47 million as a reward.
After the attack on the platform, Eisenberg earned about $100,000 more by issuing the meme token Mango Inu.
He was arrested in December on charges of commodity and price fraud. Later, the CFTC and SEC put forward claims against the trader.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has accused Avraham Eisenberg of knowingly and intentionally participating in a scheme involving artificially manipulating the price of perpetual futures contracts on the Mango Markets cryptocurrency exchange.
Earlier, Eisenberg publicly admitted to the attack on the Mango cryptocurrency exchange, saying that he was involved in a team that "used a high-yield trading strategy." He said he believed all of his actions were "legitimate actions on the open market."
However, the FBI has a different legal assessment of Eisenberg's actions. FBI Special Agent Brandon Racz said that Eisenberg knew that his actions were illegal, because the day after the Mango Markets exploit, Eisenberg flew from the United States to Israel.
"This was an attempt to avoid being detained by law enforcement agencies immediately after revealing a market manipulation scheme," he said.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Eisenberg was arrested on December 26 in Puerto Rico.
In November, Eisenberg tried to repeat his "high-yield trading strategy", this time attacking the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Aave. However, the plan failed. As a result of the price manipulation maneuver, he lost millions of US dollars, as the price actually rose during the attack, resulting in losses due to a significant short position.
***
The trial of Abraham Eisenberg, suspected of attacking the DeFi platform Mango Markets, was postponed to next year. This is evidenced by court documents.
Initially, the meeting was scheduled for December 4. However, the defense requested a reprieve after their client was "unexpectedly transferred" from a New Jersey prison to a Brooklyn detention center on October 26. This is where FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sent in August, and where he is now after being found guilty.
According to the lawyers request, they need more time to study the case file, prepare it, and because of the "huge" amount of evidence presented by the authorities.
The lawyers also stressed that they lost time in connection with the transfer of Eisenberg to Brooklyn. The prosecution, in turn, considered the time allotted for reviewing the documents sufficient.
Judge Arun Subramanian dismissed the prosecutor's office's protests and scheduled a hearing for April 8, 2024.
In October 2022, a group of traders led by Eisenberg attacked the Solana-based DeFi trading platform and withdrew digital assets worth about $116 million. The Mango Markets community supported the deal with the hackers, under the terms of which they returned $69 million, leaving $47 million as a reward.
After the attack on the platform, Eisenberg earned about $100,000 more by issuing the meme token Mango Inu.
He was arrested in December on charges of commodity and price fraud. Later, the CFTC and SEC put forward claims against the trader.
