US senators quiz deputy AG over DOJ crypto unit shutdown

The six US senators cited a 162% jump in illicit crypto activity in 2025 to argue that the DOJ should not have disbanded its cryptocurrency enforcement team.

Six US senators have challenged Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for shutting down the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) cryptocurrency enforcement team in April last year while holding substantial amounts of cryptocurrency at the time. 

Blanche disbanded the DOJ’s national cryptocurrency enforcement team in April 2025, just months after Donald Trump was inaugurated as US president following a pro-crypto campaign. 

The task force was created in 2022 under the Joe Biden administration and led major investigations, including the probe into Binance and its founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating US anti-money-laundering laws.

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