MIT-educated brothers internet searched ‘money laundering’ before $25 million crypto heist

A federal jury is set to hear opening statements in the case of two MIT-educated brothers accused of swiping $25 million in a 12-second cryptocurrency heist.

Updated on: Oct 15, 2025, 10:58:03 IST

By Sanya Jain

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A federal jury is set to hear opening statements in the case of two MIT-educated brothers accused of swiping $25 million in a 12-second cryptocurrency heist.

James Peraire-Bueno arrives at federal court in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. Two brothers, both recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates accused of stealing $25 million of cryptocurrency from Ethereum traders, are going on trial. (Bloomberg)

Anton Peraire-Bueno, 25, and James Peraire-Bueno, 29, will face a jury composed of college-educated individuals in Manhattan on Tuesday, Business Insider reported.

A $25 million crypto heist

The opening statements on Tuesday are expected to describe how the Peraire-Bueno brothers carried out a complicated, multi-step transaction on the Ethereum blockchain to fraudulently obtain approximately $25 million worth of cryptocurrency from victim cryptocurrency traders.

The heist took months to plan and just 12 seconds to complete, the US Department of Justice said in a 2024 press release.

Prosecutors say that before the heist, the brothers Googled "how to wash crypto," "top crypto lawyers," "fraudulent Ethereum addresses database," and "money laundering statue [sic] of limitations."

“These brothers allegedly committed a first-of-its-kind manipulation of the Ethereum blockchain by fraudulently gaining access to pending transactions, altering the movement of the electronic currency, and ultimately stealing $25 million in cryptocurrency from their victims,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas Fattorusso of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) New York Field Office.

The MIT-educated crypto thieves

Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Pepaire-Bueno are brothers who studied mathematics and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – one of the world’s most prestigious universities.

"Using the specialized skills developed during their education, as well as their expertise in cryptocurrency trading," the brothers "exploited the very integrity of the Ethereum blockchain," prosecutors said in a 19-page indictment last year, as reported by Business Insider.

They stand accused of wire fraud and money laundering, but have “strongly contested” the accusations.

Their attorney claims that they did not defraud crypto traders but merely outsmarted automated trading bots.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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