Millions in crypto funded tools to exploit U.S. software, Treasury says in new sanctions

An Australian nationalist was said to merchantability cyber tools designed for the U.S. authorities and its allies to a Russian institution known arsenic Operation Zero.

Feb 24, 2026, 7:48 p.m.

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a Russian company, Operation Zero, and the individuals down it aft accusing them of buying stolen cyber tools for millions successful cryptocurrency and re-selling those technologies, which were created to beryllium utilized by the U.S. government.

The tools bought and sold by recently sanctioned Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk and his business, Operation Zero, were said to beryllium primitively stolen by an Australian national, Peter Williams, who erstwhile worked astatine the defence contractor that made the national-security focused bundle "for the exclusive usage of the U.S. authorities and prime allies." Williams pleaded blameworthy past year to selling commercialized secrets.

"Treasury volition proceed to enactment alongside the remainder of the Trump Administration to support delicate American intelligence spot and safeguard our nationalist security," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent successful a statement.

Zelenyuk and the others are said to beryllium the archetypal radical to beryllium sanctioned nether the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act. The sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control artifact U.S. radical from immoderate concern dealings with those flagged oregon with others who bash concern with them."Operation Zero has sought to enlistee hackers to enactment its activities and make concern relationships with overseas quality agencies done usage of societal media," the Treasury Department said successful its statement. The accusations accidental the tools were offered for merchantability to those seeking to exploit vulnerabilities successful machine software.

While the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control alleged that cryptocurrencies were utilized successful the transactions, it did not database circumstantial addresses for blacklisting.

Read More: Criminal usage of crypto spikes aft years of dependable decline, TRM study says

Fed proposes regularisation to woody with crypto debanking by scrapping 'reputation risk'

The connection would chopped the hazard origin from Fed oversight and barroom supervisors from pushing banks to chopped disconnected disfavored businesses, including successful crypto.