Friday Nov 7 2025 21:30
2 min
Jurors who will decide whether two brothers are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a case involving maximal extractable value (MEV) bots on the Ethereum blockchain are no closer to reaching a verdict as the weekend approaches.
According to reports from Inner City Press at a New York City court on Friday, the jurors in the US government’s case against Anton and James Peraire-Bueno requested additional clarification from the judge regarding the intentions behind their actions. Despite the judge's instructions, the jurors are reportedly “having an issue reaching a unanimous verdict” in the case.
The reporting suggested that the jury could find the brothers not guilty on at least one of the charges for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to receive stolen property. Judge Jessica Clarke denied the defense lawyers’ requests for a mistrial and directed the jury to order dinner and continue deliberations.
The deliberations, having taken almost three full business days as of Friday afternoon, have been significantly longer than comparable cases involving cryptocurrency and fraud. In contrast, the jury for the criminal trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, in the same district court, took about five hours to find him guilty of seven felony charges.
The charges against the brothers stem from allegations that they used MEV bots to extract approximately $25 million in crypto from the Ethereum blockchain in 2023. The prosecution's theory of the case, presented to the jury, was that the two individuals had “tricked” the system by presenting themselves as “honest validators” on the blockchain.
At the time of publication, it was unclear whether the jury would reach a verdict by the end of the day. In a note to the judge on Thursday, they indicated they could stay until 7:30 pm ET on Friday.
While there is generally no law limiting the amount of time a jury may take to deliberate, a judge can intervene to expedite proceedings or grant a motion for a mistrial if the jury indicates that it is deadlocked. In the Peraire-Buenos’ case, Clarke has not issued an Allen charge — “instructions given to a hung jury urging them to agree on a verdict,” according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.
Risk Warning: this article represents only the author’s views and is for reference only. It does not constitute investment advice or financial guidance, nor does it represent the stance of the Markets.com platform.When considering shares, indices, forex (foreign exchange) and commodities for trading and price predictions, remember that trading CFDs involves a significant degree of risk and could result in capital loss.Past performance is not indicative of any future results. This information is provided for informative purposes only and should not be construed to be investment advice. Trading cryptocurrency CFDs and spread bets is restricted for all UK retail clients.
Latest
View allSunday, 9 November 2025
1 min
Sunday, 9 November 2025
5 min
Saturday, 8 November 2025
2 min
EN
