US Justice Department To Launch National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team

Former CFTC enforcement attorney: “Those in the [digital asset] space should expect additional scrutiny.”

article-image

Department of Justice, Washington D.C.

share

key takeaways

  • US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco described the unit as a way “to protect consumers”
  • The DOJ also announced the formation of another initiative that would focus on civil cyber fraud and fine Federal contractors who don’t appropriately adhere to cybersecurity standards

The US Justice Department announced the launch of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) on Wednesday, which will tackle money laundering, cyber crime and various other crypto-related offenses.  

The initiative will focus on “combating misuse of cryptocurrency”, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at the Aspen Institute Cyber Summit. In addition, the unit would assist in recovering assets lost to extortion and fraud, the DOJ said.

“The point is to protect consumers,” she added in her speech on Wednesday. “Cryptocurrency exchanges want to be the banks of the future, well we need to make sure that folks can have confidence when they’re using these systems, and we need to be poised to root out abuse.”

Under the supervision of Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr., the unit would consist of cybersecurity and anti-money laundering experts. Additional names of individuals in the NCET were not publicly disclosed as of press time. 

Braden Perry, a former CFTC enforcement attorney and a partner at Kennyhertz Perry, described the news as “a signal that the DOJ will evolve with cryptocurrency advances and aggressively prosecute [those] who utilize technology to profit from abuse.”

“Traditionally, bad actors have been able to take advantage of the lack of regulatory framework, understanding the regulatory framework lags innovation, and [taking] this advantage to outrun prosecution,” Perry said to Blockworks.

The DOJ also announced the formation of another initiative on Wednesday, one that focuses on civil cyber fraud and that will fine Federal contractors who don’t appropriately adhere to cybersecurity standards.

“For too long, companies have chosen silence under the mistaken belief that it is less risky to hide a breach than to bring it forward and to report it,” said Monaco, of the Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative. “Well that changes today. We are announcing today that we will use our civil enforcement tools to pursue companies, those who are government contractors who receive federal funds, when they fail to follow required cybersecurity standards — because we know that puts all of us at risk.”

The two initiatives follow a slew of news regarding accusations around alleged ransomware criminals and illicit payment activity.

In May, Russia-based DarkSide hackers targeted the largest fuel pipeline in the United States — the Colonial Pipeline System. The Justice Department later announced that it had recovered over $2 million worth of the extorted bitcoin. Most recently, the Biden administration blacklisted Suex, an obscure over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency broker serving the Russian market, for allegedly facilitating money laundering.

“I think you’ll see the DOJ and the IRS, SEC, CFTC, and other federal and state regulators work together to root out what they deem wrongful conduct in the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology spaces,” Perry said. 

“This has been a moving target. And those in the space should expect additional scrutiny.”

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

Silk Road founder Ulbricht made a triumphant return to the Bitcoin Conference, 10 years on from sentencing

article-image

A Blockworks Research report looked at who could take up some of the marketshare in the launchpad space

article-image

Business-to-business stablecoin payments are on the rise, per a report from Artemis, Dragonfly and Castle Island

article-image

Crypto continues to do its thing: incentivizing behavior

article-image

Kraken will soon offer Backed ‘xStocks’ as Solana tokens

article-image

In a unanimous decision, the US Court of International Trade has ruled that Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are unlawful