US DOJ Charges Brothers for Orchestrating Attack on Ethereum Trading Bots

The US Department of Justice has charged two brothers with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering for orchestrating an attack on Ethereum trading bots. The bots were targeted in a process called maximal extractable value (MEV), which can be lucrative but often comes at the expense of blockchain users. The brothers made approximately $25 million in eight separate transactions by exploiting a flaw in MEV boost. While some may see exploiting MEV bots as fair game, the majority of the Ethereum community believes it should be minimized. The Flashbots team was able to quickly patch the error that enabled the attack, and there are no lasting implications.