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ARTICLE · 06 FEBRUARY 2023

A Fractured Framework: Regulatory Actions Against Mango Token Trader Highlight Complexities Of Crypto Enforcement

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Avraham "Avi" Eisenberg, 27, a crypto trader accused of hacking the digital asset platform Mango Markets by pumping the price of related swaps to reap over $100 million in profits...

United StatesTechnology
Peter I. Altman
Peter I. Altman
Michael Asaro
Michael Asaro
James J. Benjamin Jr.
James J. Benjamin Jr.
Paul W. Butler
Paul W. Butler
Charles F. Connolly
Charles F. Connolly
Estela Diaz
Estela Diaz
Katherine Rachel Goldstein
Katherine Rachel Goldstein
Ian Patrick McGinley
Ian Patrick McGinley
Claudius B. Modesti
Claudius B. Modesti
+3 more
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Key Points

  • The recent indictment and multiple regulatory enforcement actions brought against a crypto trader alleged to have committed market manipulation highlight the ongoing fractured oversight of the crypto markets in the United States and the application of multiple laws to the world of decentralized crypto trading.
  • The actions involve varying theories of wrongdoing, with the SEC alleging the token was a security, the CFTC asserting jurisdiction through the involvement of a swap tied to the token and the DOJ using both its broad wire fraud authority and the criminal reach of the CEA––but not the federal securities laws––as the basis for its charges.
  • The SEC action was filed the same day that SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce made her latest case for rulemaking in the space and an end to the government's "regulation by enforcement" approach.

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