Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will not bring criminal charges against the crypto venture firm, as Tornado Cash co‑founder Roman Storm’s federal trial in Manhattan neared its conclusion.

Qureshi, whose investment firm backed several blockchain startups, wrote on social media that federal prosecutor Nathan Rehn told the court July 28 that neither Dragonfly nor its principals were targets of the department’s investigation.

He called the public clarification “unprecedented” and “a clear violation of DOJ policy,” citing the Justice Department’s usual practice of keeping target information confidential. The development comes days after Qureshi publicly denounced the DOJ over targeting the firm for backing Tornado Cash in 2020 as part of Storm’s trial.

Storm, who co‑founded Tornado Cash in 2019 as an open‑source protocol to anonymize cryptocurrency transactions, is charged with laundering more than $1 billion and violating U.S. sanctions against North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

The trial, which began July 14 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, has heard testimony from blockchain tracing experts and former Tornado Cash users. Closing arguments are expected later this week.

Tornado Cash was added to the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions list in August 2022, marking the first time a software protocol faced such action. Prosecutors allege Storm personally approved transactions for illicit actors, while defense attorneys argue that the protocol’s code, not its creator, should be judged.

Dragonfly invested in Tornado Cash in 2020 after obtaining an outside legal opinion that the mixer complied with U.S. anti‑money‑laundering guidance issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The outcome of Storm’s case could reshape how open‑source developers are held accountable for user activity. If convicted, Storm faces up to 45 years in prison, a sentence that critics warn could chill innovation in privacy‑enhancing tools.

Qureshi wrote:

“With that behind us, the focus should remain on Roman Storm’s trial, which is now nearing closing arguments as soon as this week. Its outcome will have massive implications for open-source software and privacy rights in America.”

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Crypto Journalist

Anas Hassan

Crypto Journalist

Anas Hassan

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Anas is a crypto native journalist and SEO writer with over five years of writing experience covering blockchain, crypto, DeFi, and emerging tech.

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July 24, 2025

Two MIT-educated brothers accused of orchestrating the largest MEV bot exploitation in cryptocurrency history will face trial after a federal judge rejected their attempts to dismiss fraud and money laundering charges.

Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, allegedly stole $25 million in cryptocurrency within 12 seconds by manipulating Ethereum’s MEV-Boost protocol in April 2023.

Technical Error or Deliberate Exploit?

The brothers meticulously planned their operation over several months, studying trading patterns of Ethereum bots and establishing shell companies.

They created 16 Ethereum validators using approximately $880,000 in cryptocurrency, then executed what prosecutors called a “bait, block, search, and propagation” scheme targeting three victim traders operating MEV bots.

Their exploit involved proposing “lure transactions” to induce victim traders’ bots to purchase illiquid cryptocurrencies worth $25 million.

The brothers then sent a false signature to the relay system, gaining premature access to private transaction data.

They replaced the lure transactions with their own trades, selling the illiquid tokens and rendering the victims’ holdings worthless.

Following the theft, the brothers laundered the stolen funds through complex transactions across multiple addresses and foreign exchanges with limited KYC requirements.

They converted the cryptocurrency to DAI stablecoin, then to USDC, before transferring $20 million to U.S. dollar accounts. Foreign law enforcement froze $3 million of the stolen funds.

The case comes amid rising concerns about MEV exploitation across blockchain networks.

Recent incidents include a $2 million insider attack on Bedrock’s UniBTC protocol by a former Fuzzland employee and a notorious Solana MEV bot named “arsc” that accumulated $30 million in two months through sandwich attacks.

Brothers’ Legal Battle Reaches Critical Juncture

Federal prosecutors arrested the Peraire-Bueno brothers on May 15, 2024, with Anton taken into custody in Boston and James in New York.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams described the scheme as meticulously planned, noting how the brothers “used their specialized skills and education to tamper with and manipulate the protocols relied upon by millions of Ethereum users.“

The brothers face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Each charge carries a potential 20-year prison sentence. A federal judge scheduled their trial for October 14, 2025, after denying their motions to dismiss the indictment.

The court found the wire fraud charges legally sufficient, determining that the brothers’ lure transactions and false signatures constituted material misrepresentations.

The judge ruled that the $25 million in stolen cryptocurrency represented a traditionally recognized property interest, not merely contingent profits.

IRS Criminal Investigation’s New York Cyber Unit traced the stolen funds back to the brothers despite their sophisticated laundering efforts.

Special Agent Thomas Fattorusso noted that investigators “simply followed the money” using cutting-edge technology and traditional investigative methods.

Growing MEV Threat Challenges Blockchain Scalability

MEV exploitation has emerged as a dominant threat to blockchain scalability, according to recent research from Flashbots.

According to a report covered by Cryptonews in June, MEV bots now consume 40% of all blockspace on Solana and over half of the gas usage on Ethereum rollups, such as Base and OP Mainnet.

The Peraire-Bueno case represents the first criminal prosecution of MEV manipulation; however, similar exploits continue to occur across various networks.

A Ronin Network breach in August 2024 initially appeared malicious but was later revealed to be a white-hat operation, with the hacker returning $9.8 million after discovering a vulnerability in the bridge.

Recent data from EigenPhi shows more than 81,000 users fell victim to sandwich attacks in the last 30 days alone.

These attacks now account for nearly $1 billion in weekly trading volume on Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges.

Flashbots has proposed new frameworks to address MEV abuse, including explicit MEV auctions and programmable privacy using Trusted Execution Environments.

The organization argues that current spam from MEV bots creates artificial fee floors, undermining the promise of near-zero transaction costs on scaled networks.

The brothers’ trial, scheduled for October, is likely to set precedents for future MEV-related prosecutions, as it isn’t technically precise whether it can be attributed to an exploit of a technical oversight.

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked…

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July 23, 2025

Park Gyuri, a founding member of the K-pop girl group Kara, is facing fresh crypto allegations, days after telling a court she did not participate in her ex-lover’s alleged altcoin fraud operations.

The case revolves around a low-cap art-themed altcoin named Pica Coin and its alleged mastermind Song Ja-ho, Park’s ex-boyfriend.

At the time of the launch, Park was reportedly listed as Pica’s Chief Communications Officer and Advisor.

Park Gyuri: Crypto Accusations Continue

Last week, prosecutors summoned Park as a witness in the Song fraud case. She told a branch of the Seoul Southern District Court that she had played no part in any illegal crypto schemes or efforts to manipulate token prices.

She claimed that she thought Pica was an above-board art-technology startup. Park also claimed that she worked as a salaried worker at Pica “for a year as a curator and publicity manager, planning and promoting exhibitions for artists.” The K-pop star added:

“I knew nothing about cryptoassets. And I did not want any photos of me to feature in the Pica Coin white paper. I have never participated in or benefited from illegal coin operations. […] I have never made any profit from [this coin].”

‘I Sold My BTC to Buy Altcoin,’ Star Claims

Furthermore, Park claimed that she had invested 60 million won (currently $43,566) in Pica Coin in April 2021.

She said that she raised the funds for the purchase by selling her personal Bitcoin (BTC) holdings.

But the former Kara member said she “lost everything” when the Pica Coin was delisted from the Upbit crypto exchange two months later, in June 2021.

However, the Pica Coin CEO Seong Hae-joong told the media outlet iMBC that Park’s claims were untrue. Seong said that Song “directly compensated her with 60 million won in cash in December of the same year, acting out of pity for her.”

This was despite the fact that Park and Song reportedly broke up in September 2021. Seung provided the media outlet with screenshots of an alleged conversation about the “compensation” between Park and Song on KakaoTalk.

The screenshots appear to show Park asking Song when exactly he would send her the money on December 8, 2021. To this, he appears to respond: “Before the end of the month.”

Park also appears to “correct” Song’s intention to send 50 million, saying: “It wasn’t 50 million, but actually 60 million.”

Prosecutors Launched Legal Case in 2023

Seong also stated that Park’s claims that she had never made any profit from crypto were “untrue.” He asserted that Park’s assertions were “one-sided” and “lacked credulity.”

The media outlet said that it had contacted Park’s talent agency Big Boss Entertainment with multiple unsuccessful requests for comment.

However, the newspaper Maeil Kyungjae quoted Park’s representatives as stating: “We cannot comment on matters connected to Ms. Park’s private life.”

Park has previously expressed her exasperation with the case on her social media pages, asking rhetorically why she is not being allowed to move on from her involvement with Pica.

Police arrested Song in 2023 on charges of fraud and breach of trust. Prosecutors have accused him of soliciting investments for artworks he did not own.

Officials also think Song may have also manipulated Pica Coin prices to his own advantage.

Park debuted with Kara in 2007, with the group disbanding in 2016. Kara reformed in 2022 and is currently touring Asia, with performances slated for Yokohama, Japan, and Macau in August.