The U.S. Justice Department authorized the seizure of more than $2.8 million in cryptocurrency, cash, and other assets from a suspected ransomware operator, according to an Aug. 14 announcement.

Federal prosecutors unsealed six warrants tied to Ianis Aleksandrovich Antropenko, charging him with conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse, committing computer fraud and abuse, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In addition to the crypto, authorities also seized $70,000 in cash and a luxury vehicle. The digital assets seized in the raid are expected to be added to the government’s growing crypto reserve.

According to the Justice Department, the assets were linked to ransomware proceeds and laundered through methods including the now-defunct mixing service ChipMixer, which was dismantled in an international operation in 2023.

Officials said Antropenko also converted crypto to cash and made structured deposits to avoid detection.

Part of expanding federal stockpile

The case marks the latest government action involving crypto that could be directed into the U.S. national crypto reserve, created by an executive order enacted by President Donald Trump in March.

Earlier this week, the Justice Department announced the seizure of roughly $1 million from the ransomware group BlackSuit and moved to claim $2.4 million in Bitcoin (BTC) seized by the FBI in Dallas in April.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently revealed that the government’s Bitcoin holdings, acquired through criminal asset forfeitures after victim restitution, totaled about $20 billion.

Bessent drew attention earlier in the week after saying the government would not be buying additional Bitcoin for the reserve. He later backtracked and clarified that the Treasury will continue to seek “budget-neutral” ways to expand its holdings.

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OpenAI says Operator Agent now uses the o3 model, which means it’s now significantly better at reasoning capabilities.

For those unaware, Operator, which is still in research preview, allows users to delegate web tasks to the AI agent.

You can use it to automate repetitive tasks, such as filling forms and ordering products.

Operator isn’t exactly new and has been around since January 2025, but only those who pay for a $200 Pro and Enterprise subscription have access to it.

I recently reported that OpenAI is planning to improve Operator and turn it into a “very useful tool.”

While we are yet to see any meaningful improvements to the UX, OpenAI confirmed that it has updated Operator to o3.

Previously, the web Agent used 4o, a non-reasoning models to automate tasks. With o3, Operator is more persistent and accurate when interacting with the browser.

“Now Operator is more persistent and accurate when interacting with the browser, improving overall task success rate. Responses are also more clear, thorough and better structured,” the company noted.

“Operator continues to be available as a research preview to ChatGPT Pro users globally. This upgraded model is only available in Operator in ChatGPT.”

However, the question remains: would you pay $200 to automate grocery shopping and similar tasks? Most people won’t, and that’s why OpenAI is internally testing new ways to make the tool more useful.

While Operator remains exclusive to the $200 Pro subscription, OpenAI has plans to release the feature for $20 Plus subscribers in the future.