The Department of Justice indicted two brothers for allegedly manipulating the Ethereum blockchain to steal $25 million in cryptocurrency within roughly 12 seconds.
Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, were arrested on Tuesday for charges of wire fraud and money laundering."As we allege, the defendants' scheme calls the very integrity of the blockchain into question," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York in a statement.
If convicted, the brothers face a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the three counts they are charged with.The charges come ahead of a long-awaited ruling from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on whether to approve an Ethereum exchange-traded fund, which would allow investors access to the ether token without having to directly own the cryptocurrency. The deadline for the SEC to complete its review ahead of a ruling is later this month.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler has previously expressed concern about lacking regulation in crypto markets that could make it a dangerous listing for investors. "To me, the fundamental question is, is how do we ensure that the American investor is protected? And right now, they're not getting the required or needed disclosures," Gensler said in an interview on CNBC's"Squawk Box" earlier this month."And the intermediaries in the center of this rather centralized market generally are conflicted and doing things we would never allow the New York Stock Exchange to do.
Coin Coin Latest News, Coin Coin Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »