The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) disbanded its crypto investigations unit, in line with the Trump administration’s deregulation of the crypto industry, announcing to DOJ staff that the department would be narrowing its activities regarding crypto enforcement. Todd Blanche, Deputy Attorney General, announced that the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) would be disbanded “effective immediately”. He released a four-page memo, outlining the move, titled “Ending Regulation by Prosecution”. The NCET was created by the previous Biden administration.
NCET focused on prosecuting crypto users accused of money laundering, fraud, and theft. NCET was rather successful in prosecuting their cases, with big names on their target list, including Binance, Tornado Cash, and Bitfinex. The NCET, however, marked a dark chapter in the history of cryptocurrency, with many innovators struggling to do business in a country that seemed to be working against them.
Blanche informed the public that the agency would not be pursuing crypto users or operations such as exchanges and mixing services. The NCET prosecuted exchanges for the activities of their clients, which caused a lot of disruptions in the industry. Blanche ordered the department not to charge people with regulatory violations anymore. Critics of the change suggest that criminals may take advantage of this situation and may feel emboldened to launder their money. Blanche even pointed out that the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) would not be used to investigate crypto operations. Instead, Blanche said the agency will investigate individuals who try to defraud crypto holders or use crypto to finance terrorism or criminal activities. The change seems to focus on individual use of crypto rather than sabotaging an entire industry.
Executive Order 14178, approved by President Trump, decrees that there needs to be clarity and certainty for the crypto market so that innovation can thrive and inclusivity can be enhanced.
Blanche cited Trump’s Executive Order as a reason for his four-page memo, explaining that the department should be supporting the blockchain industry. The DOJ, according to Blanche, should be making efforts to protect crypto users from fraudsters who may try to steal their money. Other issues he focused on were the use of crypto for narcotics trading, gang financing, and organised crime. Blanche stated that any investigation that runs counter to this aim should be shut down immediately.
In 2021, NCET was formed under then-President Biden, which led to major investigations such as with Tornado Cash. NCET tried to investigate North Korean hackers who had laundered large sums of stolen crypto. In 2025, President Trump created a Working Group on Digital Assets, with the help of David Sacks, the White House crypto czar.
In 2024, Trump promised the crypto sector, which overlaps with the Libertarian movement, that he would reverse the previous administration’s damaging policies and support the crypto industry. The SEC walked away from legal cases against crypto firms, even though they were succeeding. The U.S. banking regulator issued a new statement to allow banking for crypto businesses, ending a long period of debanking policies, where crypto businesses were denied banking services. And now, the DOJ has completely disbanded the crypto enforcement unit.
Critics, however, may claim that shutting down the crypto enforcement unit may encourage criminals to engage in illegal behaviour, such as corruption, gang activity, and support of sanctioned regimes. However, the DOJ still targets individuals and groups using crypto for illicit gain and merely stops persecuting an entire industry.
