The US Justice Department on Wednesday accused two brothers of stealing 25 million dollars (around 23 million euros) in cryptocurrencies "in 12 seconds", using a sophisticated and unprecedented technique against the Ethereum blockchain.
The suspects are Anton and James Peraire Bueno, aged 24 and 28, arrested on Tuesday, who studied computer science and mathematics at a "prestigious university" and used their skills to "exploit the integrity of the Ethereum blockchain", according to a statement from the US justice system.
The brothers, who allegedly planned the scam over several months, altered the process by which users' private transactions are validated and added to the Ethereum blockchain, a new technique that had never been included in a criminal indictment, the Justice Department said.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, stressed that the suspects' activity "calls into question the very integrity of the blockchain".
After fraudulently obtaining the money, the brothers rejected "requests to return it" and took steps to hide their identities and conceal the robbery through shell companies and multiple foreign cryptocurrency exchange platforms, the US court said.
Peraire Buenos, who according to the press release was arrested in Boston and New York, faces sentences of up to 20 years in prison for each of the three crimes they are charged with, related to wire fraud and money laundering.
