Crypto prosecutors told to ignore ‘unwitting’ regulatory violations

President Donald Trump’s crypto-industry backers notched another win this week, as the administration instructed federal prosecutors to “no longer target virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and offline wallets for the acts of their end users or unwitting violations of regulations.”

Instead, a Monday evening memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche read, U.S. attorneys should direct their attention to “individuals who victimize digital asset investors, or those who use digital assets in furtherance of criminal offenses such as terrorism, narcotics and human trafficking, organized crime, hacking, and cartel and gang financing.” Along with the policy shakeup, the Justice Department shuttered its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, multiple outlets including CNBC (CMCSA-1.52%) and ABC (DIS-1.74%) reported.

Blanche also accused the Biden administration of using the Justice Department to “pursue a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution, which was ill conceived and poorly executed.”

The DOJ team’s disbandment further erodes the Biden administration’s active approach to crypto-industry oversight and policing. The centralized enforcement team, for example, debuted in 2022 and investigated money laundering-violations by leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Federal regulators including the SEC have also moved to limit crypto oversight under the Trump administration. Trump, his family, and leaders in his administration have financial ties to the volatile crypto industry.

Crypto investors and industry leaders overwhelmingly backed Trump in the 2024 election, yet the price of Bitcoin has tanked about 17.8% so far this year to about $76,839 Tuesday afternoon, following market downturns over Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

The second-leading cryptocurrency by market cap, Ether, has fared far worse; it’s forfeited 56.23% of its value since January 1, falling to roughly $1,460 Tuesday afternoon. Ripple’s XRP has also declined 13.7% so far in 2025, to $1.81.

After a broad rally earlier in the day, crypto stocks Coinbase (COIN-3.97%) and MicroStrategy (MSTR-8.12%) were down 3.4% and 5.9%, respectively, as of around 1:30 p.m. Eastern.