Two brothers who studied at one of the most prestigious universities in the US have been charged with stealing $25m (£20m) in cryptocurrency in 12 se

US brothers arrested for stealing $25m in crypto in just 12 seconds

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2024-11-05 23:00:04

Two brothers who studied at one of the most prestigious universities in the US have been charged with stealing $25m (£20m) in cryptocurrency in 12 seconds.

Prosecutors also say the pair, reportedly educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), carried it out in April 2023.

"The Peraire-Bueno brothers stole $25 million in Ethereum cryptocurrency through a technologically sophisticated, cutting-edge scheme they plotted for months and executed in seconds," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

She added that agents from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) played a key role in unravelling the "first-of-its kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme".

Prosecutors allege the two used highly specialised skills that they learned at "one of the most prestigious universities in the world" to exploit Ethereum's process for validating transactions.

The brothers studied mathematics and computer science, according to the indictments, and both attended MIT, according to news reports.