Deciphr Academy
Track 3 · Module 15 · Lesson 5 of 6 · 7 min read

How was the Mango Markets oracle manipulated?

Short answer

US regulators allege that in October 2022 a trader pushed up MNGO's price on the three exchanges Mango's oracle read, then borrowed against the inflated value.1,2 A jury convicted him in 2024, but in 2025 the judge vacated two convictions and acquitted him on the third. The government appealed in July 2025.3,4,5

The pattern regulators describe1. Buy MNGOon 3 exchanges2. Price jumpsover 13-fold3. Borrowagainst it4. Withdrawover $110MWhen MNGO fell back, the platform was left shortAlleged by the CFTC and SEC. Convictions were set aside in 2025.
Fig. 5. The pattern regulators describe: buy on the exchanges the oracle reads, watch the oracle price jump, borrow against it, and leave.
A case, not a verdict

This lesson describes charges and court rulings. Charges are only allegations. The jury's guilty verdicts were later set aside by the trial judge. The government appealed to the Second Circuit in July 2025 (No. 25-1782). As of 22 October 2026 the docket showed no decision.5

What Mango Markets was

Mango Markets was a platform for trading its own token, MNGO, and a futures-style contract called a MNGO Perpetual.4 It also let users borrow crypto against the value of their account.4 The more an account was worth, the more its owner could borrow.4

To value MNGO, Mango used an oracle. The court described it as pulling data from three exchanges, FTX, AscendEX and Serum, to work out MNGO's average price.4

What regulators allege

The CFTC, a US markets regulator, says that on 11 October 2022 Avraham Eisenberg used two Mango accounts to take large positions on MNGO's price.1 It alleges he then quickly bought large amounts of MNGO on the three exchanges that fed the oracle.1 The SEC describes MNGO as thinly traded.2

According to the CFTC, MNGO's oracle price jumped more than 13-fold in 30 minutes.1 Against that inflated value, it alleges, he borrowed and withdrew over $110 million, draining most of other users' deposits.1 The SEC put the figure at about $116 million.2 It says the platform was left short when MNGO's price fell back.2

The CFTC says he later returned about $67 million and kept about $47 million.1

The charges

  • Criminal: prosecutors in New York first charged him in a complaint unsealed on 27 December 2022.1 In January 2023 they indicted him on three counts.4
  • CFTC (civil): filed on 9 January 2023. The CFTC called it its first case involving "oracle manipulation".1
  • SEC (civil): filed on 20 January 2023, alleging that MNGO had been sold as a security.2

The verdict, and what came next

On 18 April 2024, after a nine-day trial, a jury convicted him of commodities fraud, commodities manipulation and wire fraud.3,4

On 23 May 2025, the trial judge, Arun Subramanian, set the verdicts aside.4 He vacated the two commodities convictions, because the evidence did not show that the Southern District of New York was the right place to try them.4 The opinion cites the Supreme Court: overturning a conviction on these grounds does not settle whether someone is guilty.4

He acquitted Eisenberg of wire fraud, finding too little evidence that he had made a false or misleading representation.4 The judge noted that, at the time, Mango had no terms, policies or rules on manipulation or borrowing.4 A judgment of acquittal followed on 28 May 2025.3

The government appealed to the Second Circuit in July 2025 (No. 25-1782). As of 22 October 2026 the docket showed no decision.5

Why the oracle was the weak point

The design lesson does not depend on the verdict. Mango's oracle read just three exchanges, and MNGO was thinly traded.4,2 Buying there moved the oracle, and the oracle set how much could be borrowed.1,4

Chainlink's documentation warns that assets with low liquidity are the most vulnerable to market manipulation.6 ethereum.org warns of a similar attack on lending apps that read a trading pool's live price.7 Such attacks have used flash loans: loans taken out and paid back within one transaction.7,8

Our viewWhatever the courts decide, the design flaw is plain. If a few thin markets set your oracle price, and that price sets how much people can borrow, your app is a target.
Sources
  1. CFTC charges Avraham Eisenberg with manipulative and deceptive scheme to misappropriate over $110 million from Mango Markets. US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, press release 8647-23, 9 January 2023.
  2. SEC charges Avraham Eisenberg with manipulating Mango Markets' "governance token" to steal $116 million of crypto assets. US Securities and Exchange Commission, press release 2023-13 (read via the Internet Archive, because sec.gov refused our automated download), 20 January 2023.
  3. Judgment of Acquittal, United States v. Eisenberg, No. 23-cr-10 (AS). US District Court, Southern District of New York, via CourtListener, 28 May 2025.
  4. Opinion and Order, United States v. Eisenberg, No. 23-cr-10 (AS). US District Court, Southern District of New York (Judge Arun Subramanian), 23 May 2025.
  5. Docket, United States of America v. Eisenberg (USA), No. 25-1782. US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, via CourtListener, appeal docketed 23 July 2025; docket read 22 October 2026.
  6. Developer Responsibilities: Market Integrity and Application Code Risks. Chainlink documentation, page read 22 October 2026.
  7. Smart contract security. ethereum.org developer docs, page updated 7 October 2026.
  8. What is DeFi?. ethereum.org, page updated 26 July 2026.
← Oracle networksNext: Choosing an oracle →

General education built from the publicly available sources listed above. Not financial, legal, tax or investment advice. Naming a company, project or regulator is not an endorsement either way. Last checked 2026-10-22. Terms and disclaimer.