Key Takeaways
- The US Department of Justice disbanded its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team under Trump’s administration.
- Trump’s administration is easing crypto regulations and issued executive orders to provide clarity to the industry.
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The US Department of Justice has dissolved its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), a unit focused on investigating and prosecuting crypto-related crimes, according to a memo issued by the DOJ on April 7.
The disbandment of NCET, reportedly effective immediately, comes as the US witnesses a rapid and extensive transformation in crypto regulation under the Trump administration, a clear pivot from the Biden administration’s policies.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in the memo that the DOJ is “not a digital assets regulator,” condemning the prior administration’s “regulation by prosecution” approach.
Blanche tied the decision to President Trump’s January 2025 executive order, which seeks to deliver “regulatory clarity” for the crypto industry.
Blanche’s memo also redirected DOJ efforts toward prosecuting individuals who harm digital asset investors, while barring cases against crypto exchanges, mixers like Tornado Cash, and offline wallets.
Formed in 2021 under President Biden, the NCET led major crypto investigations, including Tornado Cash and Avraham Eisenberg’s $100 million trading protocol exploit. It also targeted North Korean actors for laundering hacked crypto proceeds.
The disbandment falls in line with the Trump administration’s push to create a crypto-friendly business climate in the US, fulfilling a key campaign promise.
In January 2025, President Trump launched the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, chaired by David Sacks, the White House’s crypto and AI Czar.
The order aims to provide regulatory clarity, promote innovation, and propose a federal framework for digital assets by July 2025.
Since President Trump’s return to the White House, the SEC has shifted away from its previous “regulation by enforcement” strategy, closing investigations into major crypto firms such as Coinbase without pursuing further action.
More importantly, the SEC is now actively working to clarify the regulatory status of digital assets.
Commissioner Hester Peirce recently stated that meme coins fall outside the SEC’s jurisdiction, and just last week, the agency officially announced that stablecoins would not be classified as securities.
Similarly, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has rolled back earlier restrictive guidance on crypto-related activities for banks, reducing compliance hurdles and signaling a more crypto-friendly stance across federal agencies.
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