Breaking: DOJ Pulls Back on Crypto Crackdown, Shuts Down Key Enforcement Team

NCET No More: Biden's Crypto Watchdog Disbanded

Hold onto your wallets, crypto fans! The U.S. Department of Justice just threw a major curveball by scaling back its crypto crackdown and slamming the door on its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). Yeah, you heard that right, the team that was all over those big cases like the $4.3 billion Binance smackdown is officially out of the game.

From Big Guns to Narrow Focus

Launched with a bang in 2022 under the Biden crew, NCET was the DOJ's go-to squad for nailing crypto crooks. But in a hush-hush memo that hit DOJ inboxes on April 7, deputy attorney general Todd Blanche dropped the bomb: NCET's done, and any cases that don't make the cut are getting the axe. The DOJ's new game plan? They're zeroing in on the real nasty stuff—terrorism, narcotics, human trafficking, organized crime, and hacking. But here's the kicker: they're telling prosecutors to back off from going after crypto exchanges, wallet providers, and mixing services like Tornado Cash unless they're really breaking bad.

Developers Get a Break, But Is It Too Much?

In a huge win for the crypto builders out there, the DOJ's also saying they won't chase down devs just because someone misuses their code. Blanche didn't hold back, slamming the Biden-era approach as "regulation by prosecution" and straight-up calling it reckless. And get this, they're citing a Trump executive order that's all about keeping those blockchain networks free and open without any fear of getting smacked down.

Trump's Crypto Ties and DOJ's New Sheriff

Speaking of Trump, he's been cozying up to the crypto crowd big time, especially now that his family's got a whopping 75% stake in World Liberty Financial. And with Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer, now running the show at the DOJ, he's telling prosecutors to chill on going after securities, banking, or commodities law breaches unless there's some serious bad intent.

Crypto Community Split: Freedom or Fraud Fest?

But not everyone's popping champagne over the DOJ's move. Some in the crypto world are worried that this hands-off approach might just turn into a free-for-all for scammers and fraudsters. The big question now is, will this lighter touch let the bad guys run wild, or is it the right call for the industry?