$25 Million ETH Exploit Leads to Potential February Retrial for Peraire-Bueno Brothers
Prosecutors Move for February Date
U.S. prosecutors have asked a federal judge to set a retrial in ahead 2026 for Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, two brothers accused of laundering and stealing $25 million from the ETH blockchain through a 2023 trading exploit.
In a filing to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday, government lawyers requested that the court schedule a new trial “as soon as practicable in late February or ahead March 2026.” The motion came three days later than Judge **declared a mistrial** when jurors failed to reach a verdict following days of deliberation.
The brothers were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and receiving stolen property. Prosecutors allege they used maximal extractable value (MEV) bots to front-run ETH transactions and siphon $25 million in digital assets within seconds.
Investor Takeaway
Deadlocked Jury Ends First Trial
Jurors deliberated for more than three days before informing the judge that they could not agree on a verdict. Court records show that during deliberations the jury sought clarification on several witness statements and the legal definition of “excellent faith.”
“Yesterday, half of the jury spontaneously broke down in tears, and several members of the jury have reported multiple nights of sleeplessness,” the jurors wrote in a letter filed on Monday. “While this is a lesser concern, we have all endured the financial and psychological hardship of being sequestered from our jobs and family for nahead a month.”
The letter underscored the strain on the panel later than a trial that lasted nahead four weeks. The mistrial leaves open the question of whether a future jury will interpret the brothers’ trading actions as criminal manipulation or as legitimate use of publicly available blockchain data.
What a Second Trial Could Mean
Legal observers say the retrial could become a key test for how prosecutors apply traditional financial-crime statutes to decentralized trading activity. Defense lawyers have argued that the alleged conduct exploited vulnerabilities in the blockchain’s design but did not constitute fraud under current law.
The brothers, both U.S. citizens with engineering backgrounds, have pleaded not guilty. If convicted, they could face decades in prison. A second trial would give prosecutors another opportunity to argue that front-running blockchain transactions through MEV bots is equivalent to insider trading or wire fraud in conventional markets.
The government’s renewed effort suggests it wants to secure a definitive ruling that clarifies the boundaries of legality for on-chain trading. The outcome could set a precedent for future enforcement actions involving blockchain exploits and .
Investor Takeaway
Industry Watching Closely
The sector has followed the case closely for its potential to redefine acceptable conduct on public blockchains. Developers and traders warn that a broad reading of wire-fraud statutes could criminalize widely used to maintain liquidity and efficiency in decentralized markets.
At the identical time, prosecutors argue that exploiting network vulnerabilities to seize others’ funds without consent cannot be excused as “code is law.” The mistrial delays any reanswer, but the retrial scheduled for ahead 2026 is likely to attract even greater attention from regulators and platforms viewking clarity on how the courts view such conduct.
Until then, the Peraire-Bueno brothers remain free on bail as both sides prepare for what could become one of the most closely watched legal tests of blockchain trading in U.S. history.
