By George Ward
Avraham Eisenberg, who was arrested for manipulating the spot market on the Mango trading platform, now faces a new set of allegations. The Commodity Trading and Futures Commission (CTFC) charged Eisenberg for violating their commodities regulation.
Manipulating The Swap Trading Parameters
In October 2022, Eisenberg stole about $114 million in cryptos from Mango Market. According to the report, he exploited the platform by manipulating the swap trading parameters.
Specifically, Eisenberg relatively inflated the price of Mango’s native token (MNGO) with USDC stablecoin and bought the token in bulk. Consequently, the price of the token rose by 1,300%.
Afterward, he used the artificially inflated MNGO as collateral for a $114 million loan in USDC from the platform. He was arrested on Dec. 27, 2022, after the Southern District of New York (SDNY) filed several charges against him.
Although the perpetrator admitted the lawsuit, he claimed that he and his team acted legally and according to the trading rules on the platform. While he was still fighting the legal brawl with SDNY for market manipulation, the CFTC slammed him with fresh allegations.
On Jan. 9, the American regulator, CFTC, filed a complaint against Eisenberg. According to the filing, the defendant allegedly exploited the price of swaps trading features on the Mango Market DeFi protocol.
He was accused of stealing about $114 million in crypto assets from his artificial price inflation, which was illegal. The CTFC continued that through his actions, Eisenberg had executed a fraudulent and manipulative practice that violated several regulations that guide the conduct of America’s commodities services.
The regulators added that unless Eisenberg is reprimanded, he will continue to break the rules by engaging in several other illegal activities. In addition, they stated that they wanted to bring Eisenberg to book based on the various charges against him to ensure he receives appropriate punishments.
Bringing Defiant Crypto Firms And Investors Under The Law
CFTC noted that Eisenberg is currently in federal custody as he admitted to being guilty of SDNY’s allegations. Reports showed that the court remanded Eisenberg to prevent him from fleeing. As of now, it is uncertain when the Judge will finally rule on his case.
Meanwhile, after the collapse of FTX, there were allegations that the CFTC was receiving help from FTX to perform oversight functions over the crypto market. Since then, the regulator has been striving to defend itself against the accusation.
In addition, the CFTC had been pushing hard, chasing all commodities lawbreakers as it tried to show its capabilities to bring defiant crypto firms and investors under the law.