DoJ scraps crypto unit, tells staff to ignore crypto exchanges and mixers
The Donald Trump administration scrapped the Justice Department’s (DoJ) crypto policing unit yesterday, accusing the previous government of pursuing a “reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution.”
That’s according to a memo sent by the DoJ on Monday night and reviewed by Fortune. In the memo, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) would be disbanded “effective immediately” in line with Trump’s January crypto executive order.
Blanche reportedly told DoJ employees to avoid pursuing cases against different crypto exchanges, crypto mixers, and “offline wallets.” Instead, he told them to focus on “prosecuting individuals who victimize digital asset investors.”
Read more: Elizabeth Warren wants Trump and SEC probed over crypto ties
“The Department of Justice is not a digital assets regulator. However, the prior administration used the Justice Department to pursue a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution,” Blanche claimed.
The crypto enforcement unit was announced in 2021 under the Biden administration and was tasked with tackling “complex investigations and prosecutions of criminal misuses of cryptocurrency.”
The NCET has helped with inquiries against the likes of Binance, crypto mixer Tornado Cash, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, and suspected North Korean hackers, and helped launch charges against the suspected hackers of Mt Gox.
The NCET’s shuttering is another sign of the Trump administration’s lax approach to crypto policy, which has seen numerous lawsuits against crypto firms dropped entirely or paused.
Indeed, Democratic US Senator Elizabeth Warren called for an investigation into the Securities and Exchange Commission over this lax approach, seeking to uncover whether or not Trump’s administration profited from these regulatory changes.
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.