DOJ Rejects Industry Input
Federal prosecutors filed a letter in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on Tuesday, formally opposing a proposed amicus brief from the DeFi Education Fund (DEF). The filing, submitted by Interim U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, asks Judge Jessica Clarke to reject the advocacy group’s input in the ongoing criminal case against Anton and James Peraire-Bueno.
The brothers face a retrial in early 2026 for allegedly exploiting Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) bots to siphon $25 million from the Ethereum blockchain. Prosecutors argue the DEF’s brief “merely recites legal arguments already rejected by this Court” and offers no unique factual information relevant to the pending motion to dismiss.
The Argument: Policy vs. Procedure
The conflict centers on the definition of permitted conduct in DeFi. In its December 19 proposed brief, the DEF argued that criminalizing the brothers’ MEV strategy would create “ambiguity and fear” for software developers, effectively stifling U.S. innovation. They contend that the prosecution applies “ill-fitting interpretations” of wire fraud statutes to programmable blockchain transactions.
The government dismissed this as an attempt to re-litigate settled policy questions rather than address the specific trial record. “Detached from the trial record, the brief merely recites legal arguments already rejected,” Clayton wrote, urging the court to focus strictly on the motion to dismiss or acquit based on existing evidence.
Context: A Deadlocked Jury
This legal maneuvering follows a mistrial declared in November 2025. The original jury deadlocked after failing to reach a unanimous verdict on whether the brothers’ 12-second arbitrage maneuver constituted wire fraud or a valid, albeit aggressive, trading strategy. Jurors reported being “unanimously convinced” they could not agree, highlighting the complexity of applying traditional financial laws to on-chain mechanics.
The outcome of this motion will set the tone for the retrial, tentatively scheduled for February or March 2026. If the court excludes the DEF’s brief, it signals a narrowing of the case’s scope, potentially limiting the defense’s ability to introduce broader industry standards as exculpatory context.
Market Reaction
Ethereum (ETH) remained largely unaffected by the procedural update, trading near $2,960. The market has largely priced in the regulatory uncertainty surrounding MEV since the initial indictment in 2024.
