CFTC Sues Traders In Crypto Swap Scam

January 10, 2023

Story: Divya Sinha

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against Avraham Eisenberg, a crypto trader, for market manipulation in the Mango exploit.

The trader is accused of stealing $114 million by fraudulently manipulating the price of swap contracts.

In October, Eisenberg carried out a "manipulative and deceptive scheme" to inflate the prices of swaps offered by Mango Markets.

Eisenberg was arrested last month and charged with fraud by New York prosecutors.

He allegedly used two Mango Markets accounts under his control to manipulate the price of perpetual swaps, driving them up 1,300% in minutes.

He used the swaps as collateral to borrow and withdraw about $114 million worth of cryptocurrencies deposited on exchanges by other investors.

It was one of several hacks to hit the decentralized financial economy over the past year, leading to the runaway of $2 trillion in digital assets.