The criminal case against Avraham Eisenberg, the crypto user accused of orchestrating a multimillion-dollar exploit of the decentralized exchange Mango Markets, is set to proceed in the United States. Judge Richard Berman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has scheduled Eisenberg’s trial for December 4. The exploit, which occurred in October 2022, resulted in the theft of approximately $116 million worth of governance tokens MNGO, USD Coin, and Marinade Staked SOL (mSOL). Eisenberg has pleaded not guilty to three criminal counts related to commodities fraud, commodity manipulation, and wire fraud.
Allegations and legal proceedings
According to court records filed on June 14, Eisenberg allegedly executed a major exploit on Mango Markets, manipulating futures contracts to artificially inflate the price of swaps by 1,300%. Within just 20 minutes, he reportedly extracted around $110 million worth of cryptocurrency from other depositors on the exchange. Four days after the incident, Eisenberg claimed on Twitter that his actions were part of a “highly profitable trading strategy” and that they were legal open market actions using the protocol as designed.
Eisenberg’s trial is not his only legal battle. He also faces separate civil suits filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Mango Markets. In January, Mango Labs LLC, the organization behind Mango Markets, accused Eisenberg of deceitfully acquiring $114 million and pressuring members of the Mango Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) to allow him to return only $67 million of the stolen funds. The civil lawsuit is temporarily paused while the criminal case progresses.
International travel and consequences
Following the alleged scam, Eisenberg traveled internationally, adding complexity to the case. An FBI affidavit revealed that he flew to Israel the day after the incident and later moved to Puerto Rico, where authorities arrested him in December 2022. Since then, he has been held in U.S. custody, waiving his right to bail during a February hearing.
If found guilty, Eisenberg could face severe legal consequences. The wire fraud charge alone carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years of imprisonment. In addition to the criminal charges, he is also facing legal action from the SEC and the CFTC. The trial will be closely watched by the crypto community and legal observers as it could set a precedent for cases involving exploitation and manipulation in the cryptocurrency space.
The rise and fall of Mango Markets
Mango Markets, a decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Solana blockchain, allows users to lend, borrow, swap, and leverage trade cryptocurrencies. Governed by MNGO token holders through a DAO, the platform aims to provide convenient and efficient trading services. However, the security breach in October 2022 resulted in a loss of $110 million for the company.
In response to the hack, Mango DAO offered a reward of $47 million to incentivize the return of stolen tokens worth $67 million, with the promise of immunity from legal action; Eisenberg publicly agreed to the terms.
As the trial date approaches, Eisenberg’s lawyer, John Smith, hopes for a favorable outcome. He believes the evidence against his client is weak and has requested that the case be moved to a different court. The trial will determine the accountability and legal implications surrounding cryptocurrency exploits and manipulations.
