U.S. DOJ’s Crypto Crime Unit Disbanded — Is Crypto Enforcement Slowing Down?

• The Justice Department (DOJ) has disbanded the National Crypto Enforcement Team.

• The team had led most of the cases of Binance, Tornado Cash, KuCoin, and BitMEX before it was dismantled.

The Department of Justice of the United States has shut down the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), a major shift in how the federal government handles matters pertaining to digital currencies. The new measure is in line with a more general trend initiated by President Donald Trump’s newly signed executive order.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche released this decision in a four-page memo. He also criticized the previous administration’s approach, referring to it as making the DOJ an “improper crypto regulator.”In a memo Blanche noted:

“The Department of Justice is not a digital assets regulator. The prior Administration used the Justice Department to pursue a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution.”

Blanche added that while financial crimes cannot be ignored, enforcement should also not target platforms or developers that are building blockchain technology.

From Aggressive Enforcement to Industry-Friendly Oversight

Established in 2021 under the Biden administration, the NCET bridged cybercrime and money laundering specialists in DOJ and attorneys selected from district offices. The task force successfully conducted several large-scale operations related to crypto fraud, sanctions evasion, and money laundering cases last year.

Among these, the Tornado Cash developers’ trial was quite unique, namely, Roman Storm and Roman Semenov. It was claimed that they offered money laundering services of more than $1 billion and had connections with hacking groups associated with North Korea. The crypto community defended itself, arguing that these accusations produced a stain on the practice of open-sourced software development. The courts later reversed the case and removed Tornado Cash from the OFAC list of blacklisted services.

The largest exchange in the world by trade volume, Binance, also was not spared intense scrutiny. It was accused by the DOJ of neglecting the laws of anti-money laundering. The case was closed only after the company agreed to pay $4 billion as fines. Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the company, also admitted to the charges being laid against them and was sentenced to four months imprisonment and was ordered to pay a $50 million fine.

Another firm that was criticized was a derivatives exchange firm known as BitMEX. They accused its executives of not applying KYC. Some of the legal outcomes included probation and fines that characterized the DOJ in the recent past, such as arrest on compliance.

In January 2024, KuCoin was charged with unlawful operations without a license and non-adherence to legal guidelines. The exchange, stated in its quarterly report, has held over 1.5 million users in the US and earned $185 million in fees, and it agreed to pay $300 million by early 2025.

Trump Administration Softer Regulatory Tone

The disbandment of the NCET comes amidst many agencies in the United States considering their stance on crypto. Presidential Executive Order signed in April has prompted a series of policy reviews in an effort to correspond enforcement to technology advancement.

The SEC is now evaluating the long-standing guidance used in identifying digital assets where the Howey Test has been used. Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda duly noted that the agency is in the process of reviewing its internal policies.