Avraham Eisenberg, a 28-year-old resident of Puerto Rico, has been convicted by a federal jury in New York for his involvement in a $110 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme on the Mango Markets decentralized exchange. This case marks the U.S. Department of Justice’s first prosecution of cryptocurrency open-market manipulation, involving charges of commodities fraud, commodities market manipulation, and wire fraud.
Eisenberg was found to have manipulated the price of certain perpetual futures contracts on Mango Markets, defrauding the exchange and its customers of approximately $110 million in cryptocurrency assets. This sophisticated scheme not only compromised the integrity of the financial markets but also violated the trust of investors leveraging digital assets.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri emphasized the significance of the case, stating, “Manipulative trading puts our financial markets and investors at risk. This prosecution—the first involving the manipulation of cryptocurrency through open-market trades—demonstrates the Criminal Division’s commitment to protecting U.S. financial markets and holding wrongdoers accountable, no matter what mechanism they use to commit manipulation and fraud.“
Eisenberg now faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each of the commodities-related charges and up to 20 years for the wire fraud charge. His sentencing is scheduled for July 29, where a federal district court judge will determine the sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
