Updated with the link of the actual document. The reporting has been changed to reflect the actual wording of the original document.
A memo issued by the US Deputy-Attorney General Todd Blanche has ordered the crypto investigative unit at the Department of Justice to scrap pending investigations on crypto-currency and instead begin investigating investigators who investigate criminal activity on the blockchain. The memo encourages prosecutors to pursue cases of investors who have been scammed rather than looking for financial crimes that have been committed on the blockchain.
The decision follows another decision by the Trump Administration to strip the SEC of its powers to investigate securities violations in the world of crypto. Pending investigations by the SEC on various alleged criminal activity such as the scamming of popular individuals and celebrities with meme-coins, such as the case of Haliey Welch have been dropped. The SEC is also currently dropping cases against Kraken, Coinbase, XRP and others on securities laws violations. Unconfirmed reports also state that the DOJ and the SEC are dropping their cases against Justin Sun (Tron TRX).
The DOJ has a pending investigation on Justin Sun over money-laundering and sanctions-breaking. The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a lawsuit against Justin Sun in 2023 for wash-trading and selling unregistered securities. Justin Sun announced a $30 million purchase in late last year of the Trump’s family crypto tokens called “World Liberty Financial”. Trump launched a meme-coin earlier this year which netted him and his family at least $500 million.
Justin Sun’s payment to Trump’s family can technically be considered as a bribe given that the President has financially benefitted from Justin Sun while preparing to enter office as the elected-President, with Justin Sun in turn receiving very advantageous treatment due to the President’s own personal decisions.
In a separate decision, the US government has previously removed the Tornado Cash protocol from its sanctions list. The Tornado Cash protocol is used to conceal crypto transactions and is frequently used by Chinese, North Korean and Russian hackers to launder stolen funds.
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