Two brothers who studied at one of the most prestigious universities in the US have been charged with stealing $25m (£20m) in cryptocurrency in 12 seconds.

Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, are accused of wire fraud and money laundering.

The US Department of Justice said the alleged heist is the first of its kind.

Prosecutors also say the pair, reportedly educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), carried it out in April 2023.

"The Peraire-Bueno brothers stole $25 million in Ethereum cryptocurrency through a technologically sophisticated, cutting-edge scheme they plotted for months and executed in seconds," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

She added that agents from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) played a key role in unravelling the "first-of-its kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme".

Prosecutors allege the two used highly specialised skills that they learned at "one of the most prestigious universities in the world" to exploit Ethereum's process for validating transactions.

The brothers studied mathematics and computer science, according to the indictments, and both attended MIT, according to news reports.