Eisenberg Arrested for Exploitation of Mango Markets
Author:Avraham Eisenberg, a crypto investor, was arrested on Monday in Puerto Rico following his ‘’highly profitable trading strategy’’ which resulted in $110 million of crypto being taken from DeFi trading platform Mango Markets.
Eisenberg has been charged in relation to manipulating a decentralized-finance trading platform, having admitted to his involvement in draining the treasury of Mango Markets in mid-October. This is believed to be the first instance of a U.S. resident being charged for this type of crime
FBI Special Agent Brandon Racz's deposition alleges that Eisenberg manipulated the sale of Mango Markets futures contracts "willfully and knowingly".
“Eisenberg engaged in a scheme involving the intentional and artificial manipulation of the price of perpetual futures contracts on a cryptocurrency exchange called Mango Markets, and other manipulative and deceptive devices and contrivances.”
According to Thomas Burnett, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Eisenberg was arrested in Puerto Rico on Monday night.
Eisenberg is accused of manipulating the price of perpetuals contracts for Mango Markets' native token MNGO by selling large amounts of these contracts to himself, causing their price to rise by 1,300% in less than an hour.
Eisenberg borrowed against the worth of his position and “withdrew essentially all of the cryptocurrency deposits on the Mango Markets platform.''
According to the deposition, Eisenberg reported on his Twitter account that the platform became "insolvent" as a result.
Following the trade, Eisenberg entered into negotiations with Mango Markets and eventually agreed to reimburse the $67 million to the Mango DAO. This money was intended to be returned to the people who experienced losses due to Eisenberg's attack.
Users on Mango Markets' Discord server reacted with celebratory memes after hearing about Eisenberg's arrest.