US Brothers May Face 20 Years’ Imprisonment for Stealing $25m in Crypto

US Brothers were arrested on Tuesday for stealing $25million in crypto by manipulating the Ethereum blockchain network. They committed the crime in April 2023, and the whole process took just 12 seconds. 

The deo named as Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24 years old, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28 both were the students of one of the most prestigious colleges Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

According to the US Department of Justice, this is the first time this type of heist happens. 

The US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “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”.

She added that agents from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) played a key role in unravelling the “first-of-its kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme”.

About the US Brothers:

The younger brother, Anton Peraire-Bueno graduated from MIT in  computer science and engineering this February. 

James Peraire-Bueno completed his degree in Math with computer science and aerospace engineering in June 2019. According to the college he also completed his master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics, graduating in June 2021.

How did They Steal the Crypto:

They were planning it for months and executed the complete process in just 12 seconds. The brothers targeted Ethereum traders. They managed to gain access to the pending private transactions. And then they manipulate the transaction and steal the cryptos and transfer it into their account. This is not an easy process, they worked on it for months and chose their victims accordingly.

Ether (ETH) is the native currency of Ethereum. It is the 2nd largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Apart from Ether (ETH), many crypto tokens use Ethereum blockchain infrastructure to run their functionality. 

Punishment: 

The incident was carried out by this duo in April last year. The brothers declined to return the crypto and tried to hide the digital assets, according to Ethereum network officials. And finally, on Tuesday, 14th May 2024, both were arrested. If they are found guilty, they can face 20 years in prison.