A U.S. judge declares a mistrial in the $25 million crypto theft case against MIT-educated brothers, exposing the uncertain legal boundaries of blockchain innovation.
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| A Manhattan judge declares a mistrial in a groundbreaking Ethereum theft case, raising questions about how far U.S. law can stretch to cover blockchain manipulation. Image: CH |
NEW YORK, USA — November 9, 2025:
A federal judge in Manhattan declared a mistrial on Friday in the case of two Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated brothers accused of stealing $25 million in cryptocurrency by exploiting the Ethereum blockchain in a lightning-fast 12-second scheme. The deadlocked jury’s inability to reach a verdict exposes the widening gap between traditional legal frameworks and the technical complexities of blockchain-based trading.
U.S. District Judge Jessica Clarke dismissed the jury after it failed to unanimously convict or acquit Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, who faced wire fraud and money laundering charges. Prosecutors had called the case a “first-of-its-kind” crypto theft designed to manipulate Ethereum’s MEV-boost protocol, which validators use to process new transactions.
“They planted a trade that looked like one thing from the outside but was secretly something else,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Nees in his opening statement. “Then, just as the defendants planned, the victims took the bait.”
Defense lawyers, however, described the brothers’ actions as innovative but lawful, arguing that their high-speed trading strategies merely pushed the limits of a competitive and transparent blockchain ecosystem. Katherine Trefz of Williams & Connolly, representing James Peraire-Bueno, said the government was unfairly criminalizing “clever coding and market ingenuity.”
The brothers were indicted in May 2024, before the start of President Donald Trump’s new administration, which has since taken a more “crypto-friendly” regulatory approach. Despite that policy shift, prosecutors proceeded with the case, framing it as a crucial test of whether U.S. law can hold individuals accountable for exploiting blockchain protocols in ways never envisioned by regulators.
The mistrial, confirmed by defense attorney William Fick of Boston’s Fick & Marx, leaves open whether federal prosecutors will seek a retrial. A spokesperson for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton declined to comment.
Legal experts say the outcome highlights a profound dilemma: how to distinguish criminal fraud from aggressive but legitimate digital asset trading. The Ethereum case underscores the challenge of applying statutes written for traditional financial systems to decentralized technologies that operate through automated code.
For now, the Peraire-Bueno brothers remain in legal limbo. But their case has already shaped the conversation about how courts, developers, and policymakers define fairness, transparency, and accountability in the evolving world of cryptocurrency markets.