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Mistrial Declared in MIT Brothers’ $25 Million Ethereum Fraud Trial

Jurors reported a deadlock that caused emotional strain, prompting the judge to end deliberations.

Overview

  • The jury told the court it could not reach a unanimous verdict after three days of deliberations, describing tears and sleepless nights during the process.
  • U.S. District Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke ended the four-week trial, leaving wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering charges still pending.
  • Prosecutors say the brothers exploited a MEV-boost vulnerability to “poison” a block and divert $25 million in a 12-second maneuver, which the defense called a lawful bot-on-bot trading strategy.
  • Jurors repeatedly sought legal guidance on willfulness, misrepresentation, and the meaning of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, underscoring the case’s technical complexity.
  • Prosecutors have not said whether they will retry the case, which reporters noted is the third federal setback this year in multimillion-dollar digital asset prosecutions.