A $25 million criminal case is becoming a hot topic in the cryptocurrency community, as two brothers accused of Ethereum fraud have just presented a controversial legal argument: the case should be dismissed entirely due to the new policy of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Donald Trump.
Two MIT geniuses and allegations of Ethereum fraud
Anton and James Pepaire-Bueno – two brothers who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (#MIT ) – were once hailed as outstanding programmers. However, they were charged last year for exploiting the transaction verification mechanism on the Ethereum network to steal $25 million in ETH from other traders in just a few minutes.
Charges include: wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and subsequently added conspiracy to receive stolen property.
New legal argument: Digital assets... are no longer considered property?
This week, their legal team filed a motion in federal court #Manhattan requesting the dismissal of the entire case. The main reason given is a new memorandum from the Department of Justice, recently released under the Trump administration, that has completely changed how the government handles cases involving digital assets.
In this memorandum, DOJ states:
"DOJ is not the regulatory agency for digital assets."
"DOJ will not continue to pursue cases that have the effect of imposing regulatory oversight on digital assets."
Based on this, the lawyer argues that: if the DOJ does not define digital assets such as $ETH as securities or property, then it cannot charge others for "stealing" them. Without a clear legal definition, there can be no criminal act, according to the defendant's understanding.
Could this legal precedent affect many other cases?
Currently, Judge Jessica G.L. Clarke is considering whether to dismiss all or part of the charges against the two defendants. If the court agrees with the lawyers' arguments, this could set an important legal precedent affecting many ongoing cryptocurrency cases in the U.S.
Specifically, the case of Roman Storm, a co-founder of Tornado Cash – a platform believed to have helped North Korea launder hundreds of millions of dollars through crypto – is also under scrutiny.
According to the new policy, #DOJ states it will only pursue hostile organizations that abuse crypto, not prosecute technology service platforms used in such acts. This raises questions in the community: will the Tornado Cash case also be affected?
However, according to a DOJ spokesperson, as of midweek this case against Roman Storm will still go to trial this summer.
Contact with the crypto market and Binance users
The DOJ's policy shift under President Trump is creating a wave of debate in the cryptocurrency investment and legal community. If the court accepts the argument that digital assets cannot be considered property in criminal cases, many pending cases could be suspended or dismissed.
For Binance users and the DeFi market in general, this could:
Creating a legal loophole where exploiters of technology can more easily "evade the law."
Creating anxiety among individual investors as fraud cases are "left floating" due to a lack of unified legal definitions.
At the same time, putting pressure on major exchanges like Binance to tighten internal regulations to ensure user safety in a context where federal policies are becoming more "lenient."
Risk warning
The cryptocurrency market always carries many legal and financial risks. Policies can change rapidly, directly affecting investor rights. This article is not investment advice. Always be cautious and thoroughly research before participating in the crypto market.