AVRAHAM Eisenberg was arrested in Puerto Rico on December 26, 2022 and charged with “market-manipulation offenses” related to the $110 million attack on the Mango Markets crypto exchange.
But who is the alleged fraudster?
Who is Avraham Eisenberg?
Avraham Eisenberg studied Mathematics at Yeshiva University in New York City, graduating in 2019.
Not much is known about Eisenberg but he currently has a blog called DeepFiValue which focuses on cryptocurrency analysis.
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What happened to Mango Markets?
Mango Markets is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Solana blockchain.
The DEX is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) made up of MNGO holders – the exchanges native token.
On October 11, 2022, Mango Markets was hacked and around $110 million was taken.
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The company tweeted that a hacker had manipulated the platform’s price oracle.
US authorities alleged Eisenberg used two accounts on Mango Markets to artificially inflate the price of Mango perpetual swaps, which is a type of futures contract.
It has been alleged Eisenberg inflated the price of MNGO perpetuals by 1,300 per cent.
FBI agent Brandon Racz said in the filing: “Because Mango Markets allows investors to borrow and withdraw cryptocurrency based on the value of their assets on the platform, the increase in the value of the MNGO perpetuals Eisenberg had purchased allowed Eisenberg to borrow, then withdraw, approximately $110mn worth of various cryptocurrencies which came from deposits of other investors.”
Eisenberg said on Twitter he was involved with a team that operated a “highly profitable trading strategy”.
He said he believed “all our actions are legal open market actions, using the protocol as designed, even if the development team did not fully anticipate all the consequences of setting parameters the way they are”.
On October 14, 2022, Mango DAO offered the attacker $47 million as well as a promise not to press charges if they sent back $67 million worth of tokens.
Eisenberg said he had negotiated a settlement with Mango Markets to help refund users.
US prosecutors alleged Mango Markets received $67 million.
The DAO said: “We are seeking to make users whole to the extent possible.”