DOJ Shuts Down Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team
The U.S. Justice Department is shifting its approach to crypto crimes, officially shutting down its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) and narrowing its focus to digital asset cases tied to terrorism, drug cartels, investor fraud, and organized crime. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, recently appointed to the No. 2 position at the DOJ, issued a late-night memo on Monday explaining that the department will no longer act as a crypto regulator and will drop investigations that don’t align with its new priorities.
Blanche blamed the Biden administration for using the DOJ to enforce crypto policy through prosecution, calling it a “reckless strategy” that was “ill-conceived and poorly executed.” Citing a recent executive order from Donald Trump, Blanche emphasized that the DOJ will now avoid targeting crypto exchanges, mixing services, and digital wallets for violations unless there’s clear evidence of criminal intent. “The Department of Justice is not a digital assets regulator,” he wrote.
Instead, prosecutors are being instructed to focus on cases where digital currencies are used to fund terrorism, enable trafficking, or defraud investors. The department will no longer pursue unintentional violations of banking or securities laws. While the NCET led several major cases against firms like Binance and Tornado Cash, it’s clear the DOJ’s new stance is less about policing crypto innovation and more about chasing criminals who use it as a tool.
