Smart Brothers Face Big Money Trial

Two brothers with degrees from MIT are in big trouble. They are accused of stealing $25 million in a very fast cryptocurrency scam. The trial started in New York. The jury is made up of smart people. All of them have college degrees. Half of them even have master's degrees. They are going to decide if the brothers are guilty or not. The brothers, Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, say they did nothing wrong. They say they just outsmarted some trading bots. But the government says they planned this for months. They also say the brothers tried to hide the money. They looked up things like "how to wash crypto" and "money laundering statute of limitations. " The trial is going to be long. It might last until November. The brothers are free for now. They each put up $250, 000 for bail. But the judge has already made some rulings against them. She won't let them say the victims deserved what happened. She also won't let their experts talk about the lack of rules in cryptocurrency. The case is complicated. It involves the Ethereum blockchain. The brothers are accused of exploiting it. But the brothers say they did nothing wrong. They say the victims lost their money because of their own trades. The jury will have to decide who is telling the truth. This is a big deal. It's the first time something like this has gone to trial. The outcome could set a precedent. It could change how people think about cryptocurrency scams. It could also change how people think about the rules around cryptocurrency.