Editing Crypto AG (section)

===BND Exit and CIA Continuation===
(1993–2018) - In 1993, fearing exposure post-Bühler and German reunification’s geopolitical shifts, the BND sold its Crypto share to the CIA for $17 million, citing risks to European relations. The CIA, undeterred, expanded its encryption sector influence, acquiring a second firm and propping up a third (its competitor, [[Gretag]] was acquired around this same time by AT&T). Crypto struggled as encryption shifted to software, but the CIA maintained operations until 2018, when it sold Crypto’s assets to two firms: CyOne Security (serving only Switzerland, run by ex-Crypto staff) and Crypto International AG (laid off 83 of 85 staff in 2020).