The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have raised allegations against a crypto trader which is believed to have stolen nearly $116 million worth of cryptocurrency from the Mango Markets platform.

The multi-million-dollar exploitation by Avraham Eisenberg was done by executing a series of large purchases of the Mango Markets governance token, MNGO, which artificially pumped its price before selling off the holdings.

According to David Hirsch, head of SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, “Eisenberg engaged in a manipulative and deceptive scheme to artificially inflate the price of the MNGO token, which was purchased and sold as a crypto asset security, in order to borrow and then withdraw nearly all available assets from Mango Markets.

This has effectively “left the platform at a deficit when the security price returned to its pre-manipulation level,” but Eisenberg sees no unlawful act in this practice.

He publicly stated in October after being charged with manipulating the price of multiple crypto assets his actions are legal and are part of his “highly profitable trading strategy”.

Sources:

https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-13

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/sec-sues-eisenberg-for-draining-mango-markets-alleges-mngo-a-security-1032031596