Trump Administration Disbands DOJ Team Working on Crypto Crimes
The Trump administration ordered the dissolution of a Justice Department team dedicated to targeting cryptocurrency crimes.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team will no longer focus on litigation or enforcement efforts regarding cases that involve banking and securities law, according to The Associated Press (AP), which reviewed a memo sent to prosecutors from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the second-highest ranking person at the DOJ.
“It’s the latest move by the Trump administration to try to boost the cryptocurrency industry while undoing the Biden administration’s efforts to crack down on wrongdoers in the industry,” the AP reported. “…Blanche’s memo is part of a larger move by the Justice Department to step back from certain white-collar enforcement to align with President Donald Trump’s priorities of tackling illegal immigration, gangs, and drug crimes.”
The DOJ will instead be narrowing its efforts to focus on people or organizations that defraud crypto investors or use digital currency to finance criminal endeavors, such as drug running, human trafficking, or terrorism. The department’s “Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section will continue to provide guidance and training to department personnel and serve as liaisons to the digital asset industry,” the 7 April memo said.
Blanche cited Trump’s executive order (EO 14178) as the foundation for this latest move. “That executive order calls for the government to help ensure that both individuals and private sector companies can access ‘open blockchain networks without persecution,’” Reuters reported.
The order came roughly one month after Trump signed an executive order creating a government reserve of bitcoin, boosting his administration’s effort to make cryptocurrency widely acceptable, according to the AP.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also adjusted its crypto enforcement efforts. The SEC’s team either “paused or altogether walked away from high-profile cases many thought the agency was winning,” according to Reuters.
“The crypto industry, which spent heavily to help Trump win the election, has long complained that the Biden administration unfairly targeted innocent actors with either criminal or civil enforcement actions,” the AP said. “…Once a crypto skeptic, Trump…has pledged to make the U.S. the world capital of crypto.”
Trump and his family already have an investment in crypto, with Reuters previously reporting that the president’s family has a claim on 75 percent of net revenues from token sales by the crypto venture World Liberty Financial. Trump also launched a crypto token prior to his inauguration .
The National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team was created during the Biden administration with the original mission of targeting crypto exchanges, mixers, and anyone involved in the misuse of cryptocurrency and related technology to support or commit criminal activity.
Criminals have found digital currency an attractive method to support their activities, as it operates as a viable currency that is not subject to traditional banking systems and regulations. Therefore, “a lot of our adversaries are using it as an alternative to the dollar,” said Celina Realuyo, lecturer at The George Washington University and expert in counterterrorism and threat finance issues in the Americas, in a previous Security Management article. For more about how criminals can leverage cryptocurrencies, check out Follow the Money: How Digital Currency is Changing Crime.
