Trump further relaxes regulation of digital assets

PANews reported on April 8 that the U.S. Department of Justice notified employees on Monday night that the agency is disbanding a department dedicated to cryptocurrency-related investigations. In a four-page memorandum viewed by Fortune magazine, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the decision, saying: "The Department of Justice is not a digital asset regulator. However, the last administration used the Department of Justice to implement a strategy of reckless supervision through prosecution." Blanche is the Department of Justice No. 2 official and defense attorney during Trump's 2024 criminal trial. He wrote that the National Cryptocurrency Law Enforcement Unit (NCET) was “immediately” dissolved as part of the Justice Department’s efforts to comply with Trump’s executive order on digital assets, which aims to “build regulatory clarity for the industry.” As part of Monday’s memo, Blanche directed Justice Department employees to focus on “prosecution of those who violate digital assets investors” rather than holding cryptocurrency exchanges, mixers like “Tornado Cash” and “offline wallets.”