AUSA: He was trying to get out of the country as fast as he could, less than 24 hours after his heist. He then offered to give some of the money back- if Mango Markets would not report him to the authorities. They agreed, but still lost tens of millions of dollars

AUSA: A few months later when he came back to the US he was arrested and charged with the fraud you are going to consider in this trial. You'll hear from the victims, the customers of Mango Markets. You will see messages, you will hear about crypto programs

AUSA: At the end, what that man did boils down to something far older: plain fraud. It will come in piece by piece. At the end we will speak again, how it fits together. Do three things: pay attention, listen to the judge and use your common sense. Find him guilty

Judge: Mr. Talkin?
Eisenberg's lawyer Sanford Talkin: Mango Markets and Avi Eisenberg, they weren't operating in the regular financial world. It is speculative, they go in with their eyes open. Sometimes the returns are astronomical. He executed a successful trade

Talkin: He risked $13 million of his own dollars. This was a risk by him. During this trading strategy, at any moment, he could have lost everything. It was not a sure bet, and it wasn't a secretive bet. The bet he made could be seen by anyone

Talkin: Every trade has a winning side, and every trade has a losing side. It is not illegal to win, to execute a trade that is to your benefit. Mango Market is computer program, a series of smart contracts. They execute on the blockchain, a public ledger

Talkin: They will try to tell you USDC is a commodity, even if Mango is not. But it is not. Nor are these swaps. So, the government can't even get out of the gate on the first two counts of this indictment. And of course the trade was anonymous. But that's Mango

Talkin: These loans are automatically paid back. There's a process in place. The collateral is taken. If it's not enough, there's an insurance fund. If that doesn't happen, everyone knows the balance will be spread out.

Talkin: The borrower does not have to profess to intend to repay the loan, on Mango Market. The government will try to get you to believe Avi Eisenberg was obligated. But he was not. In the trial, you'll learn about an account at Circle, in the name of Eisenberg

Talkin: Avi was being threatened online. He had discussions with Mango Markets and he made the decision to let things cool off. And he came back, under his own name. He gave back $67 million to Mango Markets. Intent is key in this case

Talkin: He does not deny he did these trades. He does not deny he made a profit. But he denies he committed a crime, because he did not. He executed a winning trading strategy. He is not guilty. Thank you.
Judge: First government witness?