Insider Reveals How MIT Brothers Orchestrated a $25 Million Crypto Heist in Just 12 Seconds

A shocking revelation has emerged in a Manhattan federal court. A former employee of the crypto trading firm 18decimal testified that two MIT-educated brothers — Anton and James Peraire-Bueno — allegedly spent months planning an elaborate Ethereum blockchain exploit that netted them $25 million in just 12 seconds. According to testimony, the operation — internally code-named “Omakase” — was designed to exploit a flaw in Ethereum’s MEV-Boost software, turning the tables on “sandwich bots”, automated trading algorithms that profit from price slippage between transactions.

Operation Omakase: The 12-Second Crypto Heist Witness Travis Chen, a former quantitative trader who worked with the brothers, described to jurors how the plan unfolded.

He said that as early as December 2022, the brothers had outlined a method to manipulate Ethereum’s transaction sequencing system to reorder blocks for their own gain. “It was an operation designed to profit at the expense of sandwich bots,” Chen testified.

“Everything was timed down to the second — 12 seconds that decided a $25 million outcome.” Chen admitted to profiting $2.4 million from the scheme — a sum he agreed to forfeit under a non-prosecution deal with authorities.

Months of Preparation, Bait Transactions, and a 12-Second Strike According to Chen, the brothers spent months analyzing trading patterns of automated bots before crafting eight “bait” transactions meant to lure them into a trap.

When the bots engaged, the brothers allegedly exploited a vulnerability in MEV-Boost that allowed them to preview and reorder pending blocks before they were finalized — giving them an enormous, unfair advantage. By April 2, 2023, the plan was executed — and $25 million in crypto had been drained. Meeting notes shown to the jury revealed how meticulously the operation was planned: “The scale of the operation is huge… $6 million per batch. If we catch them all at once, the payout could be much higher.”

Prosecutors: “They Googled How to Launder Crypto” Federal prosecutors claim the brothers knew exactly what they were doing.

Among the evidence presented were Google searches for: “How to launder cryptocurrency”

“Top crypto lawyers in the U.S.” Defense attorneys, however, argued that these searches were made during legitimate legal consultations and should not be considered evidence of intent. Both brothers face charges of wire fraud and money laundering, each carrying a potential 20-year prison sentence if convicted.

Flashbots Fixed the Exploit Within 24 Hours The company behind the MEV-Boost software, Flashbots, responded quickly.

Developer Robert Miller testified that the vulnerability was patched within 24 hours of the incident. Miller also revealed that the alleged perpetrators later contacted him anonymously, offering to share technical details of their exploit if he agreed not to call it a “hack.” “They said they’d explain how it worked — as long as we didn’t label it an exploit,” Miller told the court.

Defense: “They Didn’t Know It Was Illegal” The defense claims the brothers believed their actions were a form of ethical hacking, not a crime.

They argue that blockchain law remains largely undefined, and that no clear line existed between legal arbitrage and illegal manipulation. In a letter to the court, defense lawyers said that any remorse shown after the indictment is irrelevant to what the brothers knew or believed at the time of the incident.

A Landmark Case for Crypto Law This case is shaping up to be one of the most significant crypto trials in history, testing the boundary between decentralized innovation and financial crime. If convicted, the brothers’ actions could set a precedent defining what constitutes “permissible blockchain manipulation” — and what becomes known as the cyber heist of the century.

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