The Department of Justice dismantled its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to focus on targeting drug cartels and terrorist organizations that use digital assets to carry out crimes. 

In a memo sent to employees Monday evening, DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that “effective immediately,” the department would slash NCET, which he described as a “reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution” left over from the Biden era. Blanche cited a Jan. 23 executive order issued by President Donald Trump that called for the government to promote “the ability of individual citizens and private-sector entities alike to access and use for lawful purposes open public blockchain networks without persecution” as the basis for the overhaul.