The United States Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it has arrested Anton and James Pepaire-Bueno and charged them with actions the government said allowed them to swipe $25 million worth of cryptocurrency via the Ethereum blockchain in just 12 seconds.

The brothers allegedly used a maximal extractable value (MEV) exploit to steal the funds from users, and are being charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

“These brothers allegedly committed a first-of-its-kind manipulation of the Ethereum blockchain by fraudulently gaining access to pending transactions, altering the movement of the electronic currency, and ultimately stealing $25 million in cryptocurrency from their victims,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas Fattorusso of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) New York Field Office, in a statement.

Editor's note: This story is breaking and will be updated with additional details.