2 - 3 minute read
Mango Markets, a decentralized exchange based on Solana’s blockchain network, was hacked in October 2022 for approximately $110 million in cryptocurrencies. Avraham Eisenberg, the alleged hacker, was arrested on Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice and charged with market manipulation, commodities fraud, and commodities manipulation.
According to the DOJ’s indictment, Eisenberg exploited a loophole in Mango Markets’ price oracle to trigger massive withdrawals from the decentralized exchange. He then manipulated the price of Mango’s MNGO perpetual tokens by purchasing large amounts of the asset and using it as collateral to borrow various digital currencies. After draining liquidity from the exchange and withdrawing $110 million in cryptocurrencies, Eisenberg claimed that the exploit was a result of Mango Markets’ lack of anticipation and that his actions were “legal open market actions.”
Statement on recent events:
— Avraham Eisenberg (@avi_eisen) October 15, 2022
I was involved with a team that operated a highly profitable trading strategy last week.
In response to the hack, Mango Markets offered Eisenberg and his team a $47 million bug bounty if they returned $67 million in tokens. The arrest of Eisenberg is the latest in a series of crackdowns on crypto hacks by the DOJ, which is also investigating the theft of approximately $400 million from the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
The decentralized exchange Mango Markets was hacked in October 2022 for approximately $110 million in cryptocurrencies. The alleged hacker, Avraham Eisenberg, was arrested on Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice and charged with market manipulation, commodities fraud, and commodities manipulation.
Eisenberg is accused of exploiting a loophole in Mango Markets’ price oracle to trigger massive withdrawals from the exchange and then manipulating the price of Mango’s MNGO perpetual tokens. He allegedly used the assets as collateral to borrow a variety of digital currencies and then drained liquidity from the exchange before withdrawing $110 million in cryptocurrencies.
