The MIT Brothers' Quick Crypto Cash Grab

Two brothers with MIT backgrounds are in hot water. They're accused of planning a sneaky crypto heist. The plan? Steal millions in just 12 seconds. Sounds like a movie plot, right? But this is real life. A former worker, Travis Chen, spilled the beans in court. He said the brothers, Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, had a meeting in December 2022. They laid out their plan to exploit a flaw in Ethereum's system. They called it "Omakase. " Fancy name for a shady scheme. Chen worked for the brothers' company, 18decimal. He agreed to give back $2. 4 million. That was his share of the alleged theft. He did this to avoid more legal trouble. The brothers' plan was to trick "sandwich bots. " These are automated trading programs. They make money by "sandwiching" trades. The brothers wanted to turn the tables on them. They became validators on Ethereum's blockchain. This let them see transaction data early. Then, they manipulated blocks to their advantage. The goal? Steal from "sandwich traders. " Chen showed notes from the meeting. The brothers expected to make $6 million. Maybe even more if they "trapped them all at once. " Big dreams for a quick buck. The brothers are charged with wire fraud and money laundering. Each charge carries up to 20 years in prison. They went to trial last Tuesday. They turned down a plea deal. Prosecutors say the brothers also searched online. They looked up "how to wash crypto" and "top crypto lawyers. " The defense says these searches happened during talks with lawyers. They want this evidence thrown out. Chen also talked about Flashbots. This is the company that made the software the brothers exploited. They fixed the flaw within 24 hours. Fast work! Robert Miller, a Flashbots developer, testified too. He said the brothers contacted him anonymously. They asked him not to call it an "exploit. " In return, they offered to share details of a similar strategy. Miller accepted. But the defense says his testimony isn't based on direct investigation.