A U.S. judge dismissed a motion by two brothers to dismiss $25 million cryptocurrency fraud charges

ChainCatcher News, U.S. District Judge Jessica Clarke has dismissed the motion by MIT graduates Peraire-Bueno brothers to dismiss the $25 million cryptocurrency fraud charges.

Prosecutors allege that the brothers exploited a vulnerability in the Ethereum network in May 2024 to carry out an arbitrage attack by manipulating MEV bots.

Court documents reveal that the two devised a four-step plan called "bait-block-search-spread," using 16 Ethereum validator nodes and 529.5 ETH as bait to intercept the MEV bot's trading profits within 12 seconds. The judge determined that their actions met the criteria for wire fraud, despite the defendants arguing that "the system code allows such operations."

The case is expected to go to trial in October 2025, with the brothers facing felony charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to launder money, and more. The prosecution has dropped one count of conspiracy to receive stolen property, but the remaining charges will proceed to trial.