According to CoinDesk, alleged crypto fraudster Avi Eisenberg is set to go on trial in the coming months for stealing over $100 million from Mango Markets. The decentralized crypto exchange (DEX) is facing inquiries in the United States stemming from the October 2022 heist, as revealed in the project's Discord server. MangoDAO, the DEX's governing body, is voting on whether to appoint a representative to handle US regulatory matters on its behalf.
Mango Markets was once the top on-chain trading venue for Solana-based crypto investors before losing millions of dollars to Eisenberg, who allegedly used illegal market manipulation tricks to steal from the exchange's other customers. The Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Department of Justice all sued Eisenberg, as did a founder of Mango Markets. The posts did not name the regulators asking questions, but a proposal being voted on describes inquiries that need to be handled stemming from the SEC, CFTC, and DOJ's investigation of Eisenberg.
Compounding the situation, Mango Labs, the DEX's previous legal guardian, is taking a step back due to a potential conflict of interest. Mango Markets' community of token holders, who have governing rights over the DEX, were informed of the regulatory matters in a Discord post and presented a solution. Adrian Brzeziński, a crypto developer and longtime contributor to Mango Markets, proposed his company, CyberByte, act as the DEX's representative to regulators. CyberByte would have the power to hire lawyers for the DEX and facilitate amicable resolutions to the US regulatory matters. The DEX's voters, the community of token holders, would have the final say over any resolution, according to Brzeziński's posts. He requested $250,000 to cover the new legal bills. The vote over his proposal was heading toward passage with unanimous approval from participating token holders as of Friday.