The US Department of Justice has arrested two brothers for attacking the Ethereum blockchain and stealing cryptocurrencies worth $25 million in just 12 seconds as part of a fraudulent scheme. Anton Perair-Bueno (24 years old) and James Pipire-Bueno (28 years old) manipulated the process of checking transactions in the Ethereum blockchain, gaining access to private transactions, changing them, stealing the victims’ cryptocurrency, and evading queries for the return of stolen funds. Instead of returning the stolen assets, the criminals took measures to conceal their illegal income.
The prosecution claims that the brothers studied the behavior of their victims in the market since December 2022, preparing to attack and taking steps to conceal their identities and the stolen funds. They used various cryptocurrency addresses, foreign exchanges, and created fake companies. After the attack, the accused moved the stolen assets through a series of transactions to hide their source and owner.
During the preparation and execution of the attack, the brothers created a series of Ethereum validators, used fake companies, intermediate cryptocurrency addresses, foreign exchanges, and a privacy-boosting network. They conducted test transactions to identify variables that would likely attract MEV bots, exploited a vulnerability in the MEV-BOOST relay code, rearranged the proposed block to their advantage, and published it in the Ethereum blockchain, resulting in the theft of around $25 million from cryptocurrency traders.
Throughout the process, the brothers searched for information about the attack online, laundered criminal income through exchanges with low verification requirements, hired lawyers with cryptocurrency experience, and studied extradition procedures. It is noted that the entire robbery process took just 12 seconds and that the arrested studied computer science and mathematics at “one of the most prestigious universities in the world.”
The brothers were arrested in Boston (Anton Perair-Bueno) and New York (James Pipire-Bueno). They are facing charges of fraud using electronic communications, conspiracy to commit fraud, and money laundering. If found guilty, each brother could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge.