Avraham ‘Avi’ Eisenberg, a prominent figure in the digital finance industry, has been convicted in connection with a significant security breach at Mango Markets, resulting in the loss of over $110 million.

In December 2022, Eisenberg was apprehended in Puerto Rico on charges of commodities fraud, market manipulation, and wire fraud related to the Mango Markets incident that occurred in October 2022. During this incident, Eisenberg injected $5 million of USDC stablecoin into Mango Markets.

Court investigations revealed that Eisenberg manipulated the price of MNGO, the platform’s token, causing a sudden 1,000% surge in just one hour. This artificial increase enabled him to borrow and withdraw additional tokens, leading to a substantial negative debt position for the platform.

Following the breach, Eisenberg defended his actions as a legal and highly profitable trading strategy utilizing the platform’s features as intended. He eventually returned $67 million to Mango Markets, while keeping $47 million based on a community governance vote.

The trial, which commenced on April 9, lasted over a week. Eisenberg’s defense argued that he employed a legitimate trading strategy, while prosecutors deemed his actions fraudulent. Testimonies during the trial included a U.K. customer who lost $124,000 and highlighted the decentralized nature of such platforms.

Jurors were presented with evidence of Eisenberg searching online for market manipulation criminal and FBI surveillance terms. Ultimately, Mango Markets suffered a loss of approximately $116 million due to the exploit.

Currently, the price of MNGO has increased by 14% in the last 24 hours, reaching $0.0289, according to CoinGecko.

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