Defense Argues Strategy, Not Stealing
Throughout the trial, the brothers’ attorneys argued that their clients were not cybercriminals but innovators, leveraging legitimate strategies in the “adversarial and lawless” crypto landscape.
“Anton and James were using their expertise to outsmart bots designed to manipulate others,” their lawyers maintained, asserting that their actions represented clever counter-trading, not criminal intent.
The government, however, painted a different picture — one of premeditated deception, claiming the brothers conspired to mislead traders and launder millions through anonymous digital wallets.
Legal Teams and What Comes Next
The government’s team includes Danielle Kudla, Jerry Jia-Wei Fang, Benjamin Levander, and Ryan Nees from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Anton Peraire-Bueno is represented by Daniel Marx and William Fick of Fick & Marx LLP, while James Peraire-Bueno is represented by Katherine Trefz, Daniel Shanahan, Patrick Looby, Ikenna Ugboaja, and Joseph Bayerl of Williams & Connolly LLP, along with Jonathan Bach of Shapiro Arato Bach LLP.
As the government presses for a retrial and the defense seeks acquittal, the saga of the MIT Brothers $25M Crypto Theft Case continues to blur the line between genius and guilt, offering a chilling glimpse into the shadowy intersection of code, currency, and crime.
