What it is
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is the federal department responsible for law enforcement and prosecution of federal crimes. Founded in 1870 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the DOJ has jurisdiction across the entire United States. It enforces federal criminal statutes, including those applicable to cryptocurrency-related offenses such as fraud, money laundering, and sanctions violations. Unlike civil regulatory agencies like the SEC ↗ or CFTC ↗, the DOJ pursues criminal charges, carrying the possibility of imprisonment and substantial fines. In the crypto sector, it has become a primary enforcer against large-scale fraud and illicit financial activity.
Crypto framework and stance
The DOJ prosecutes crypto cases under existing criminal statutes—wire fraud, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violations, International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) sanctions, and money transmission offenses. There is no bespoke crypto law; rather, the DOJ applies general financial crime laws to digital asset activities. A Deputy Attorney General memo issued in April 2025 narrowed enforcement priorities, refocusing the department on fraud against users rather than purely technical regulatory infractions. The memo explicitly deprioritized cases where there is no clear victim harm, signaling a shift away from sweeping interpretations of money transmission. Additionally, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), established in 2021, was disbanded in 2025, though crypto prosecutions continue within existing fraud and money laundering units. This posture, maintained into 2026, emphasizes targeting scams, Ponzi schemes, and theft, while leaving more nuanced compliance questions to civil regulators.
Notable actions
The DOJ has led several landmark crypto enforcement actions. In 2023, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on multiple fraud counts, resulting in a 25-year prison sentence—a defining moment for industry accountability. Also in 2023, Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to BSA violations and sanctions failings, agreeing to a $4.3 billion settlement. The DOJ brought charges against Tornado Cash developers for money laundering and sanctions violations, arguing the mixer facilitated illicit transactions. In the Bitfinex hack case, Ilya “Razzlekhan” Lichtenstein was convicted for his role in laundering 119,754 stolen bitcoin. These cases underscore the DOJ’s reach: from exchange founders and developers to hackers, criminal liability can attach to any party knowingly facilitating or profiting from crypto crime. Each conviction reinforces the message that crypto is not a lawless zone.
Key figures
Attorney General Pam Bondi, appointed in 2025, sets the DOJ’s overall enforcement agenda. Under her leadership, the department has focused on fraud that directly harms consumers, as reflected in the April 2025 memo. While the DOJ has no single crypto czar following the NCET’s dismantling, career prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) handle digital asset cases. Bondi’s tenure has so far emphasized traditional prosecutorial discretion—prioritizing clear misconduct over regulatory ambiguities.
What it means for users and builders
For crypto users and builders in the United States, the DOJ’s posture defines the criminal risk landscape. Clear fraud—misappropriating user funds, running Ponzi schemes, or blatant market manipulation—will attract prosecution. Activities that obscure transaction flows for illicit purposes (e.g., operating unregistered mixers for money laundering) are also in the crosshairs, as the Tornado Cash case demonstrates. However, purely technical compliance mistakes, absent intent to defraud, are less likely to face DOJ action following the 2025 memo. Builders should ensure robust AML/KYC programs if they handle user funds, and any privacy tool should be designed with legal counsel to avoid facilitating sanctions evasion. The line between unprotected and criminal conduct remains: knowingly facilitating crime invites DOJ scrutiny, while good-faith innovation in compliant custody or exchange services generally does not.
Outlook
The DOJ will likely continue prosecuting major frauds and hacks, maintaining a high deterrent effect under AG Bondi. Coordination with the SEC ↗ and CFTC ↗ ensures that parallel civil actions can accompany criminal ones. The narrowed focus on user harm suggests that pure regulatory violations may be left to agencies, but any case involving mass victimization will remain a DOJ priority. As the 2026 crypto market matures, the department’s ability to build complex, cross-border cases will be tested by decentralized and anonymous structures, but its track record shows a willingness to pursue developers and founders directly.