Overview
- U.S. District Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke ended the four-week trial after three days of jury deliberations failed to produce a unanimous verdict.
- James and Anton Peraire-Bueno were accused of executing a 12-second transaction on Ethereum that prosecutors said diverted $25 million in crypto.
- Jurors reported tears and sleepless nights and said they struggled to apply legal standards around intent and misrepresentation.
- Prosecutors allege the brothers exploited an MEV-boost vulnerability by "poisoning" a block to view and manipulate pending trades, while the defense argued it was lawful bot-on-bot competition.
- The charges—wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering—remain pending, prosecutors have not said if they will retry the case, and the outcome adds to recent setbacks in federal crypto prosecutions.