Unchained Podcast Questions the Mango Market Exploiter’s Actions

• Gabriel Shapiro and Collins Belton discuss the arrest of Mango Markets Exploiter.
• Laura Shin asked if the actions of Eisenberg should be considered fraud.
• Shapiro and Belton agree that Eisenberg’s actions were illegal.

Highlighting one of the most controversial topics in the crypto space, the general counsel at Delphi Labs, Gabriel Shapiro, and Collins Belton, managing partner at Brookwood P.C, discuss the arrest of Mango Markets Exploiter, Avi Eisenberg.

Laura Shin, the host of the Unchained podcast, asks if the actions of Eisenberg should be considered commodity fraud and commodities manipulation, as charged by the court. Shapiro explains that Eisenberg’s manipulation is considered ethical within the DeFi norms but still illegal.  

Accepting Shapiro’s statements, Belton expressed that he feels the manipulation charges of Eisenberg are a bit easy under the black letter law. Belton further reminded listeners that Eisenberg took to Twitter crypto space to claim that he had manipulated the Mango Market

Shapiro further explained that one of the key takeaways revealed there were two sources of liabilities in the Mango Market, addressing the first flaw, which is “negligent design”. Shapiro states that the second liability could be focused on “the whole thing[DAOs] in general.”

The Mango Market manipulator was arrested in Puerto Rico just one day after Christmas. Reports have claimed that Eisenberg used two accounts, concurrently, to sell and buy futures based on the relative values of MNGO and the stablecoin USDC.

Through Eisenberg’s scheme, the Mango Market manipulator was able to artificially increase the price of MNGO. A complaint by FBI Special Agent Brandon Racz Eisenberg then took this to his advantage and withdrew $110 million from various cryptos.