Treasury launches crypto cyber sharing

A crypto exchange can lose hundreds of millions of dollars in a few clicks, and the warning signs often show up somewhere else first. On April 9, the U.S. Treasury said it will start feeding eligible U.S. digital-asset firms the same kind of fast cyber threat information it already shares with banks and other financial institutions. (treasury.gov) This is not a new hacking squad and not a new law. It is an information-sharing channel run by Treasury’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection, which already pushes threat intelligence across the financial sector. (treasury.gov) The practical idea is simple: if Treasury sees a phishing campaign, malware family, or wallet-targeting tactic hitting one part of finance, a crypto firm should not hear about it days later from a news story. Treasury said the program is meant to deliver “timely, actionable” information so firms can identify, prevent, and respond faster. (treasury.gov) Treasury is limiting the program to eligible U.S. firms and industry organizations, which means this is closer to a trusted alert network than a public bulletin board. The department told interested companies to contact the Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection directly for access. (treasury.gov) The backdrop is a year of very large crypto thefts. On February 21, 2025, Bybit lost about $1.5 billion in Ethereum-based assets in what researchers and investigators have described as the largest crypto heist on record. (wilsoncenter.org, trmlabs.com) That attack was not just a story about one exchange. The Federal Bureau of Investigation linked the theft to North Korean actors, and security researchers said the operation showed how state-backed groups now target the plumbing of crypto markets, not just sloppy code on small projects. (bleepingcomputer.com, trmlabs.com) Treasury’s own statement used almost the same frame. Deputy Assistant Secretary Cory Wilson said cyber threats aimed at digital-asset platforms are growing in both frequency and sophistication, which is Washington’s way of saying the attacks are getting more common and the attackers are getting better. (treasury.gov) The policy shift is that Treasury is treating crypto firms a little more like core financial infrastructure and a little less like a side market. Nextgov reported that the move folds digital-asset companies into a cyber warning system long used for traditional finance. (nextgov.com, coindesk.com) This also lines up with a broader White House digital-asset push from July 30, 2025. The President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets released a report called “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” and industry coverage says Treasury’s new cyber channel advances one of that report’s recommendations. (whitehouse.gov, aba.com) So the news here is not that Treasury suddenly discovered crypto gets hacked. The news is that, as of April 2026, the department is giving part of the crypto industry a seat inside the government’s existing financial-sector cyber alert loop, where minutes can matter more than press releases. (treasury.gov, coindesk.com)