Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general who signed a four-page memo in April 2025 ordering federal prosecutors to stop pursuing crypto regulatory cases, is now the interim Attorney General of the United States.
President Trump announced on April 2 that Attorney General Pam Bondi would be leaving for "an important new job in the private sector," with Blanche stepping into the top role effective immediately. The move puts the architect of the DOJ's crypto enforcement rollback in charge of the entire department.
The Memo That Disbanded the NCET
Blanche's "Ending Regulation by Prosecution" memo, issued April 7, 2025, did two things. First, it ordered prosecutors to stop pursuing cases against crypto companies, dealers, and exchanges that had been launched under the Biden administration. Second, it disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), a unit established in 2022 that had secured several high-profile convictions, including a $110 million fraud case and a guilty plea from a Russian national who processed over $700 million through an illicit marketplace.
In the memo, Blanche wrote that the Biden Justice Department's approach amounted to "a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution, which was ill conceived and poorly executed."
The effects were immediate. The Southern District of New York dropped one charge against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, a case the NCET had been leading.
The Crypto Holdings Problem
What made the memo controversial was not just its content but its author's financial position. According to government ethics disclosures, Blanche held between $159,000 and $485,000 in crypto assets when he signed it, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and Coinbase stock.
He had signed an ethics agreement in February 2025 promising to divest his crypto within 90 days of confirmation and to recuse himself from any matter that could have a "direct and predictable effect" on his financial interests in virtual currency. The memo, which broadly benefited the crypto industry, came before the divestment was complete.
His Bitcoin holdings alone rose 34% between the memo's signing and his eventual divestment. He later transferred the holdings to family members in July 2025.
Six Democratic senators accused Blanche of a "glaring" conflict of interest, citing a ProPublica investigation. The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog, asked the DOJ's inspector general to investigate whether the memo violated federal conflict-of-interest law.
From Trump's Defense Lawyer to the Top of the DOJ
Blanche's path to this position is unusual. He served as Trump's personal attorney during the former president's criminal trial in New York. After the 2024 election, he was nominated as deputy attorney general, the second-highest position at the DOJ. Now he holds the top job, at least on an interim basis.
Reports indicate EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is the leading candidate for the permanent Attorney General role, though Trump has not finalized that decision.
What This Means for Crypto Enforcement Going Forward
The promotion signals that the DOJ's hands-off approach to crypto prosecution will continue, and possibly deepen. With Blanche now overseeing all federal prosecutorial priorities rather than just issuing memos from the deputy's office, any remaining Biden-era cases face even less institutional support.
For crypto companies operating in the US, the practical effect is reduced federal enforcement risk. The NCET is already gone. The Tornado Cash prosecution has been partially unwound. No new major crypto enforcement actions have originated from DOJ since the memo.
The market, as of April 3, 2026, is not treating this as a catalyst. BTC sits at $66,815 (-2.1% over 24 hours), ETH at $2,055 (-3.9%), and the Fear & Greed index reads 28 (Fear). The broader selloff appears driven by macro factors rather than any reaction to the DOJ change.
But the regulatory backdrop matters on longer timeframes. Between the DOJ's enforcement pullback, the Treasury's stablecoin framework under the GENIUS Act, and the CLARITY Act's progress through Congress, the federal posture toward crypto in 2026 looks fundamentally different from 2023.
Whether that is a feature or a risk depends on who you ask. Consumer protection advocates point to the NCET's track record of going after actual fraud. Industry participants see reduced prosecution risk as a precondition for institutional adoption.
Blanche now sits at the center of that tension, with the authority to tip the balance further.
Overview
Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general who authored the DOJ's "Ending Regulation by Prosecution" memo and disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, has been named interim Attorney General after Trump fired Pam Bondi. Blanche held up to $485,000 in crypto assets when he signed the enforcement rollback, and his Bitcoin gained 34% before he divested. Six senators and a government watchdog have accused him of conflict-of-interest violations. His promotion signals a continued, and possibly deeper, federal retreat from crypto prosecution.
