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<p>Two brothers studying at the prestigious&nbsp;Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were arrested on Wednesday (May 15) and charged with stealing&nbsp;$25 million worth of cryptocurrency. Authorities said that the brothers-&nbsp;&nbsp;Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno,&nbsp;28,-&nbsp;carried out a cutting-edge scheme to exploit the Ethereum blockchain's integrity and steal millions of dollars of cryptocurrency, the news agency Reuters reported.</p>

<p>Federal prosecutors in Manhattan&nbsp;called the scheme perpetrated by the Bueno brothers&nbsp;"novel" and said the case marked the first time that such a fraud had ever been the subject of US&nbsp;criminal charges.</p>

<h2><strong>Millions stolen in just 12&nbsp;seconds</strong></h2>

<p>The brothers&nbsp;executed their elaborate heist in April last year,&nbsp;stealing $25 million from traders in just 12 seconds by fraudulently gaining access to pending transactions and altering the movement of cryptocurrency, authorities said.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/north-korea-launders-1475-million-in-stolen-cryptocurrency-un-experts-reveal-721604">North Korea launders $147.5 million in stolen cryptocurrency, UN experts reveal</a></strong></p>

<p>"As we allege, the defendants' scheme calls the very integrity of the blockchain into question," US&nbsp;Attorney Damian Williams said.</p>

<p>Anton was arrested&nbsp;in Boston, while James&nbsp;was arrested&nbsp;in New York.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>The indictment</strong></h2>

<p>At MIT, the brothers studied computer science and mathematics&nbsp;and developed the skills and education they relied upon to carry out their fraud, prosecutors said on Wednesday.</p>

<p>An indictment&nbsp;charged them&nbsp;with conspiracy to commit&nbsp;wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit&nbsp;money laundering.&nbsp;The indictment alleged that&nbsp;for months,&nbsp;the brothers&nbsp;plotted to manipulate and tamper with the protocols used to validate transactions for inclusion on the Ethereum blockchain.</p>

<p><strong>Also watch |&nbsp;US charges two brothers for stealing $25 million worth of cryptocurrency</strong></p>

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<p>They did so by exploiting a vulnerability in the code of software called MEV-boost&nbsp;that&nbsp;is&nbsp;used&nbsp;by most Ethereum network "validators," who are responsible for checking that new transactions are valid before they&nbsp;are added&nbsp;to the blockchain, prosecutors said.</p>

<p>After the brothers&nbsp;carried out the heist,&nbsp;they rejected requests to return the funds and&nbsp;instead&nbsp;took steps to launder and hide the stolen cryptocurrency.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


Two brothers studying at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were arrested on Wednesday (May 15) and charged with stealing $25 million worth of cryptocurrency.

Two brothers studying at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were arrested on Wednesday (May 15) and charged with stealing $25 million worth of cryptocurrency. Authorities said that the brothers- Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28,- carried out a cutting-edge scheme to exploit the Ethereum blockchain's integrity and steal millions of dollars of cryptocurrency, the news agency Reuters reported. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan called the scheme perpetrated by the Bueno brothers "novel" and said the case marked the first time that such a fraud had ever been the subject of US criminal charges. Millions stolen in just 12 seconds The brothers executed their elaborate heist in April last year, stealing $25 million from traders in just 12 seconds by fraudulently gaining access to pending transactions and altering the movement of cryptocurrency, authorities said. Also read | North Korea launders $147.5 million in stolen cryptocurrency, UN experts reveal "As we allege, the defendants' scheme calls the very integrity of the blockchain into question," US Attorney Damian Williams said. Anton was arrested in Boston, while James was arrested in New York. The indictment At MIT, the brothers studied computer science and mathematics and developed the skills and education they relied upon to carry out their fraud, prosecutors said on Wednesday. An indictment charged them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment alleged that for months, the brothers plotted to manipulate and tamper with the protocols used to validate transactions for inclusion on the Ethereum blockchain. Also watch | US charges two brothers for stealing $25 million worth of cryptocurrency × They did so by exploiting a vulnerability in the code of software called MEV-boost that is used by most Ethereum network "validators," who are responsible for checking that new transactions are valid before they are added to the blockchain, prosecutors said. After the brothers carried out the heist, they rejected requests to return the funds and instead took steps to launder and hide the stolen cryptocurrency. (With inputs from agencies)

Two brothers studying at MIT charged with stealing $25 million worth of cryptocurrency

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Two brothers studying at MIT charged with stealing $25 million worth of cryptocurrency