Crypto trader’s fraud charges show DeFi isn’t outside the law

Eisenberg has been highlighting his escapades to more than 40,000 followers on Twitter, all the while saying he’s putting pressure on the fledgling DeFi industry to implement better risk controls. — Image by Freepik

Criminal charges against a crypto trader who claimed to have walked away with about US$50mil (RM221.17mil) worth of digital assets after exploiting a decentralised finance platform show that even as DeFi remains mostly unregulated, it offers no shield against the legal consequences of alleged fraud.

"There’s a difference between what’s regulated and what’s legal,” Neal Kumar, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, said in a phone interview. "Just because it’s not regulated doesn’t mean that you could do any activity you want,” he added, and "government can still pursue fraud and manipulation.”