Trump Ends DoJ’s Crypto Crime Team, Citing Overreach

The United States Department of Justice has reportedly shut down its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), ending a unit that was central to federal efforts to police digital asset-related crimes.

The decision was communicated in a memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who criticized the previous administration’s use of the DOJ to carry out what he described as a “reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution.”

Blanche, a former attorney for President Donald Trump and now the second-highest-ranking official at the DOJ, wrote in the four-page memo that the Justice Department was never intended to serve as a regulator for digital assets.

The NCET was launched in October 2021 under then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. It began operations in February 2022, focusing on prosecuting cryptocurrency platforms that enabled money laundering and other illicit activity. Its dissolution is reportedly effective immediately and part of Trump’s January executive order that began changing U.S. crypto policy.

Trump’s administration has so far distanced itself from aggressive enforcement in favor of pro-growth measures. His picks for top regulatory positions across agencies such as the SEC, CFTC, FDIC, and OCC have echoed this approach, dropping lawsuits and easing compliance expectations for crypto firms.

Trump’s influence on digital asset policy extends well beyond staffing decisions. The president and his family are personally tied to multiple crypto projects, including the World Liberty Financial DeFi protocol, the TRUMP memecoin, and the USD1 stablecoin. Trump Media is also rolling out exchange-traded crypto products in partnership with Crypto.com. These initiatives have drawn criticism and sparked concerns over conflicts of interest, particularly as Trump pushes for federal adoption of crypto tools.

Lawmakers responded with growing alarm. In March, five Democratic senators asked financial agencies to evaluate potential conflicts related to USD1, and earlier this month, Representative Maxine Waters suggested Trump may be positioning the stablecoin as a replacement for the U.S. dollar.