The Department of Justice recently issued new guidance directing prosecutors to scale back their efforts to investigate and litigate cryptocurrency crimes. This subsequently disbands the government’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) in an effort to prioritize immigration and procurement issues over cryptocurrency enforcement. While the DOJ frames this as a move to streamline resources, threat actors are watching – and adapting.
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While it’s too early to observe its impact on the cryptocurrency world, I believe this move is more than a bureaucratic shuffle – it signals an enforcement vacuum that cybercriminals will rush to fill.
Cybercriminals are highly adaptable and thrive in moments of regulatory ambiguity. When criminal enforcement – whether of blue-collar or white-collar crime – becomes limited, threat actors take note and often shift their operations outside the lines of prosecutable conduct. The same is true of the cryptocurrency space.
In the digital economy, especially within the decentralized, unregulated, and fast-moving world of Web3 and crypto, this gray area is fertile ground for impersonation scams, fake airdrops, phishing campaigns, and spoofed tokens.
Even before this policy change, scams involving fake coins, phishing sites, and wallet siphons were already on the rise. According to the FBI’s latest Cryptocurrency Fraud Report, cryptocurrency fraud amounted to $5.6 billion in losses, a 45% increase since 2022.
Now, as the glare of federal scrutiny moves away from the crypto space, individuals, exchanges, and brands otherwise vulnerable to impersonation must prepare for a rise in cryptocurrency fraud. Cybercriminals will continue to exploit platforms and dupe investors, especially in spaces where technical complexity, anonymity, and lack of regulation already hamper detection and enforcement.
The administration’s decision to rethink crypto enforcement has already elicited mixed reactions from legal experts, who echo the sentiment that the move may elicit fraudulent activity.
In a statement to the Washington Post, Vanderbilt University Law Professor Yesha Yadav underscored the importance of the NCET in disrupting criminal activity across the crypto space, noting that the government may find it harder to prosecute the “incredibly nimble, very opportunistic actors in this space.”
Similarly, Kleptocracy Initiative director and anti-corruption expert, Nate Sibley, emphasized that “Dangerous US adversaries rely on cryptocurrencies to launder money and evade sanctions.”
However, a different tune can be heard within the industry. Advocacy group DeFi Education Fund, which is led by executives from organizations including Coinbase and Kraken, Executive Director and Chief Legal Officer Amanda Tuminelli stated that it was heartened to see that the DOJ announced it is redirecting resources to prosecuting the bad actors who are actually culpable for misuse of technology rather than the builders of our financial future.”
On one side, experts looking from the outside warn that the move may lead to an increase in cybercrime, while those within the industry argue that shifting focus to crimes relating to terrorism and drug cartels is a better use of resources. Only time will tell which side is correct.
Complicating matters is the increasing use of AI by attackers. With an arsenal of generative AI tools at the fingertips of anyone with an internet connection, fraudsters can now produce scams that go beyond phishing links – they’re full ecosystems of deception: fake social media accounts, copycat token launches, cloned websites, and AI-generated influencers pushing scams.
The result? Digital fraud is not only becoming more prevalent, it’s becoming more believable and harder to detect.
What does this mean for those trying to build a safer crypto ecosystem?
As the United States government reprioritizes its criminal focus, the responsibility of protecting investors and brand reputations will fall even more heavily on the private sector. Here’s how blockchain platforms, exchanges, brands, and investors operating in this space can respond:
- Audit your brand perimeter: Regularly scan for unauthorized token listings, fake domains, and imposter accounts.
- Use threat intelligence tech: AI-powered monitoring can detect spoofed websites and phishing campaigns across Web2 and Web3.
- Engage with regulators early: Don’t wait for regulation to hit. Anticipate it, and build compliant, trustworthy systems before it’s too late.
- Collaborate across the ecosystem: Whether you’re a small-time investor or an exchange with billions of dollars of assets under management, sharing information across platforms (i.e., between exchanges, social media platforms, and wallet providers) is key to identifying emerging fraud patterns.
The DOJ’s pivot may be strategic. But its ripple effects — especially in a fast-moving space like crypto — are already visible. If you’re building in web3, now’s the time to tighten your defenses. Because for every dollar the government pulls back, bad actors are investing tenfold.
At the heart of every financial system – traditional or decentralized – is trust. And, right now, trust is one of crypto’s biggest vulnerabilities. Widespread impersonation and scams, coupled with limited enforcement, have created a sense of skepticism that keeps the broader public on the sidelines.
If companies operating in the crypto space want digital assets to become mainstream, they must take ownership of building trust from the ground up. That means doubling down on transparency, accountability, and proactive protection. Because until trust becomes the norm, adoption will remain the exception.