Overview

• The U.S. government's commodities manipulation and fraud trial against DeFi trader Avi Eisenberg began, focusing on his $110 million exploit of Mango Markets.
• Prosecutors argue Eisenberg committed commodities fraud and market manipulation by inflating the value of MNGO tokens and borrowing against their inflated value.
• Eisenberg's defense claims his actions were a legitimate use of the DeFi protocol, highlighting the unclear regulatory status of crypto markets.
• The trial is expected to last two weeks and is the first criminal case against a crypto trader for allegedly breaking commodities rules in DeFi.
• Eisenberg previously agreed to return $67 million to Mango Markets but now faces potential jail time for wire fraud, commodities fraud, and manipulation charges.