NY Seeks Retrial of MIT Crypto Brothers

Prosecutors in New York are pushing for a new trial against two MIT-educated brothers accused of cryptocurrency market fraud. Anton (25) and James (29) Peraire-Bueno allegedly made $25 million illegally through the Ethereum network.

The initial trial, which lasted four weeks, ended in deadlock — the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Judge Jessica Clarke declared a mistrial, noting that further deliberations were unlikely to resolve the impasse. Some jurors were reportedly deeply affected by the complex and technical nature of the case.

According to the prosecution, the brothers exploited MEV-Boost software — a tool that allows users to observe and reorganize Ethereum transactions. They allegedly “poisoned” a transaction block to track other traders’ activities, enabling them to carry out a so-called sandwich attack. This involves artificially inflating a token’s price before another investor’s trade is executed, then selling the token at a profit. The entire operation is said to have taken just 12 seconds.

The brothers face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud itself, and money laundering. Both men deny any wrongdoing. Their defense argues that their actions fall within accepted practices in the competitive world of automated cryptocurrency trading, where MEV (maximal extractable value) strategies are widely used by market participants.

Prosecutor Jay Clayton — the former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — has filed a motion for a retrial, which could begin as early as February or March next year. The defense, however, maintains that setting a new trial date is premature.

The case has captured the attention of the crypto industry, as it may ultimately define where the line lies between legitimate algorithmic trading and criminal conduct in the world of decentralized finance.