By Sarah N. Lynch and Chris Prentice
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department is disbanding its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and ordering prosecutors to focus instead on criminal investigations involving cartels and terrorist groups that use digital currency to finance illicit business, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
The memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, sent out to employees late on Monday night, faulted Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration for previously pursuing a “reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution” of the digital asset sector.
Going forward, Blanche said, the department will instead prioritize investigations into “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.”
A Justice Department spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Louise Heavens)
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