DOJ Nukes Crypto Crime Unit as Trump Vows to End Regulation by Prosecution

Feds Kill off DOJ’s Crypto Team—Trump Resets Battlefield for Bitcoin Dominance

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will no longer maintain a dedicated unit to investigate cryptocurrency-related offenses, according to a memo circulated Monday evening by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. In the four-page communication,  reviewed  by Fortune, Blanche informed department staff that the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) would be dissolved “effective immediately.” He stated:

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.

The decision aligns with President Donald Trump’s executive order issued in January aimed at recalibrating federal oversight of digital assets to offer what the order described as “regulatory clarity.”

Formed in 2021 under President Joe Biden, the NCET combined legal experts from the DOJ’s money laundering and cybercrime sections to pursue high-profile cases, including actions against Tornado Cash—a tool used to obfuscate crypto transactions—and Avraham Eisenberg, who exploited a decentralized trading platform for more than $100 million. The team was also involved in tracing illicit digital funds connected to North Korean operatives. Blanche, who served as Trump’s criminal defense attorney during the 2024 trial, instructed DOJ prosecutors to now focus efforts on “prosecuting individuals who victimize digital asset investors” rather than targeting infrastructure such as exchanges, coin mixers, and offline wallets.

Commenting on the DOJ’s policy shift, Caitlin Long, founder of Custodia Bank and a prominent advocate for regulatory reform in crypto, weighed in on social media platform X: “I sure hope the DOJ’s cyber unit will then be beefed up, because sophisticated and dedicated crime fighters are still necessary—especially for property crimes like theft and fraud.” She stressed:

Biden had it upside down: too many regulators but too few law enforcers prosecuting the property crimes. And those regulators prioritized trying to kill the good actors while letting scammers have free rein, so Biden misused the DOJ crypto team (which under-prosecuted property crimes like theft & fraud but over-prosecuted non-property crimes like unregistered securities dealing amid unclear laws).

“That said, Trump has a chance to right the ship & get the balance right—fine to reassign the crypto prosecutors to the cyber crimes unit & prioritize the property crimes,” Long added. The Trump administration has introduced measures favoring crypto development, such as a March directive to create a federal bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile. Trump has promised to make America the bitcoin superpower of the world and the crypto capital of the planet.