A US federal decide has vacated key fraud and manipulation convictions in opposition to Avraham Eisenberg, the dealer on the middle of the case involving a $110 million exploit of the decentralized change Mango Markets.
On Friday, US District Decide Arun Subramanian ruled that the proof introduced at trial did not help the jury’s conclusion that Eisenberg made materially false representations to Mango Markets.
The choice vacates Eisenberg’s convictions for commodities fraud and market manipulation and acquits him of a 3rd cost, considerably weakening the federal government’s case.
Eisenberg, a self-proclaimed “utilized recreation theorist,” was convicted in 2024 for artificially inflating the worth of Mango’s MNGO token by over 1,300% in a matter of minutes and utilizing the ensuing good points as collateral to withdraw $110 million in crypto property from the platform.
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Decide sides with Eisenberg
The Justice Division argued that he deceived Mango’s good contract-based lending system, however Eisenberg’s protection maintained that he merely exploited poorly designed, permissionless code — with out making any false representations.
Decide Subramanian agreed, writing that “Mango Markets was permissionless and automated,” that means the system couldn’t be deceived in a authorized sense. “There was inadequate proof of falsity,” the decide added, siding with Eisenberg’s interpretation of DeFi mechanics.
The decide additionally rejected prosecutors’ argument that the case needs to be heard in New York. Eisenberg was in Puerto Rico on the time of the trades, and the court docket discovered that no significant exercise tied to the alleged crime occurred in New York.
The DOJ had cited a Poughkeepsie-based Mango person and a third-party vendor in Manhattan, however the decide dominated these weren’t sufficient to ascertain correct venue.
The US authorities should now resolve whether or not to refile the vacated costs, although the Trump administration has just lately signaled a decreased deal with crypto enforcement. Eisenberg nonetheless faces civil fits from each the SEC and CFTC.
Whereas this ruling clears Eisenberg within the Mango Markets case, he stays behind bars.
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Eisenberg charged with youngster pornography
In a separate case, Eisenberg was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on Could 1 after pleading responsible to possessing youngster pornography — a cost stemming from unrelated proof uncovered throughout his arrest.
In December 2022, US federal legislation enforcement authorities arrested Eisenberg in Puerto Rico. FBI officers charged the hacker with one depend of commodities fraud and one depend of commodities manipulation.
A jury found Eisenberg guilty of wire fraud, commodities fraud, and commodities manipulation in April 2024. The protection argued that the exploit was not a cybercrime and represented a “profitable and authorized buying and selling technique.”
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