Crypto trader convicted in $110M Mango Markets fraud trial: Bloomberg
After a one-week trial, a jury convicted crypto trader Avraham Eisenberg

Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
Crypto trader Avraham Eisenberg was convicted on Thursday in relation to trades he made in October 2022 to extract more than $100 million from Mango Markets, according to a report from Bloomberg.
28-year-old Eisenberg was charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud and commodities manipulation. The jury found him guilty of all three counts.
After closing arguments from the government and defense, the jury deliberated Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday before returning with their verdict. The trial lasted one week and took place just a few floors below where FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced last month.
Read more: Mango Markets wants Eisenberg to pay up, his lawyers say the ‘matter was settled’
Eisenberg was arrested in Puerto Rico in December 2022. Prosecutors say he illegally made off with $110 million after manipulating Mango Market futures contracts and pumping the price of swaps by 1,000%. He then borrowed against the contracts and boarded a flight from Puerto Rico to Israel.
The government says he was fleeing because he committed a crime, but Eisenberg’s defense team claims he was running after receiving numerous threats following his trades.
“The more he pumped, the more he could steal,” government attorneys said Wednesday during their closing arguments. “It is clear as day the defendant knew” he was committing crimes, the prosecution added.
The defense’s case focused on the structure of decentralized exchange Mango Markets, which, Eisenberg’s team says, allowed for the trades to take place.
Read more: DeFi trader Avi Eisenberg is stuck in US custody. Here’s how he got there.
Eisenberg employed a “successful, legal trading strategy,” defense attorney Brian Klein told the jury Wednesday.
His client was never asked to prove his identity, maintain collateral on the platform or complete a credit check, Klein said.
In the government’s rebuttal, assistant US attorney Thomas Burnett said that the defense was trying to distract from the government’s claims.
“The data and documents show he was borrowing. You should believe your own eyes,” he told the court.
This is a developing story.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
- Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
- Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
- 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
- Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
- The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
- Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.