The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is said to have closed the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), the specialized division responsible for investigating crypto-related crimes.
The movement confirmed by an internal memo quoted by Fortune In a report of 8 April, a significant shift in federal supervision of the upcoming industry reflects.
NCETs closure
NCET was launched in 2021 under the Biden Administration.
The team collected experts from several Doj divisions, including cyber crime and money laundering, to pursue high-profile matters with digital assets.
The Task Force included enforcement actions that focus on platforms such as Tornado Cash and investigating crypto activities related to North Korean agents.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche clarified the new direction of the DOJ and stated that the department’s focus is now concentrating on the prosecution of bad actors instead of the broader crypto industry.
He emphasized that the DOJ is not a financial regulator and criticized the approach to the previous administration to maintain unclear crypto rules through a lawsuit.
According to him:
“The Ministry of Justice is not a regulator of digital assets. However, the earlier administration has used the Ministry of Justice to continue a reckless strategy of regulations through prosecution.”
In view of this, Blanche Doj staff has instructed to concentrate exclusively on the aiming of criminal activities within the crypto sector -in particular scam, fraud and market manipulation -instead of investigating legitimate entities such as crypto exchanges, portfolio providers or privacy tools.
American agencies reconsider Crypto -Supervision
The step of the DOJ is part of a broader Hercalibration at federal agencies, because President Donald Trump wants to create a more favorable environment for crypto innovation.
This has resulted in regulatory authorities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that have revised their crypto policy to adapt to the efforts of the new administration.
For context, Acting SEC chairman Mark Uyeda recently confirmed plans for an extensive overview of the existing policy, including the Howey test, which determines whether a digital is active as a security.
According to Uyeda:
“The aim of this assessment is to identify personnel statements that must be changed or withdrawn in accordance with the current priorities of the agency.