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Today Fortune revealed that the US Department of Justice disbanded the unit that dealt with crypto crimes.
It was a task force of the DoJ (Department of Justice) that was specifically responsible for investigating crimes related to cryptocurrencies.
The Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Todd Blanche, stated that the decision is due to the fact that the DoJ should not be considered as a digital asset regulator, whereas the previous administration had used it to pursue a regulation strategy through charges.
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Summary
The unit against crypto crime USA
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The Department of Justice of the USA is in fact the ministry of justice of the bull government.
Therefore, with the change of presidency, the old approach has been replaced by a new one, much less focused on the fight against crypto crime.
In February 2022, under President Biden, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) was established as a division of the DoJ for crypto crime.
In fact, it was a joint task force composed of prosecutors from the anti-money laundering units and those from the cybercrime units of the same Department of Justice, as well as lawyers from other district offices.
As stated on the official website, the NCET was established to address the challenges posed by the criminal misuse of criptovalute and digital assets.
His goal was to establish strategic priorities regarding technologies related to digital assets, identify the areas on which to focus greater investigative and prosecutorial attention, and lead the Department’s efforts to combat the criminal use of digital assets.
Additionally, it provided support and training to federal, state, local, and international law enforcement agencies to develop the ability to aggressively investigate and prosecute serious crimes involving cryptocurrencies and digital assets in the United States and around the world.
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The dissolution
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Fortune reveals that the DoJ yesterday notified the NCET staff that the agency was dissolving the unit.
In fact, the newspaper has obtained a four-page memo in which the deputy attorney general announced the decision to immediately dissolve the unit, as part of the agency’s efforts to comply with Trump’s January executive order on digital assets, which aimed to establish regulatory clarity for the sector.
Note that Blanche was one of Trump’s defense attorneys during the criminal trial against him in 2024.
Blanche has even ordered the employees of the Department of Justice to focus on prosecuting individuals who victimize investors in digital assets, and to no longer pursue cases against exchange crypto, mixers, and non-custodial wallet.
In any case, one of the most famous cases involving the NCET is the one concerning the crypto mixer Tornado Cash.
The mixer had been placed on the anti-money laundering blacklist, but it has now been completely rehabilitated.
Other famous cases are those involving North Korean hackers who steal and launder crypto.
In light of such a past, it is evident that the task force no longer makes sense within the Trump administration, of which it technically was still a part.
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The new Trump administration
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The DoJ has already eliminated several proceedings against crypto operators from January 20 until today.
In fact, the new Trump administration is very favorable towards cryptocurrencies and no longer wants to pursue those who use them.
Now, however, it would be necessary to understand how much this means opening the doors to illicit uses as well. Although these remain prohibited and prosecuted by the U.S. justice system, but without specific task forces.
The fact is that Trump wants to make the USA the world superpower of Bitcoin and the world capital of crypto. Therefore, to achieve this, he is taking important measures to keep this promise.
On the other hand, the Biden administration had been excessively tough on the crypto sector. So much so that, for example, the SEC ended up losing all the main cases in court.
While on one hand the attitude of the new administration is objectively a big help to the crypto sector, it also seems that there might be a risk of going from one extreme to the other.
However, the fact that the DoJ had been equipped with a specific task force against crypto crime makes it clear how much the previous administration specifically targeted this sector.
The new administration, on the other hand, will let the general bodies that also deal with other types of crime handle the crimes related to cryptocurrencies.