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Criminal Prosecution Digital Assets Department of Justice (DOJ)

Husch Blackwell LLP

CFTC Enforcement Division Issues Framework for DOJ Criminal Referrals

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On July 9, 2025, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Division of Enforcement (DOE), acting pursuant to a recent executive order (EO), issued an advisory letter outlining its new policy for referring criminally...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

DOJ shifts focus on digital asset enforcement

Recently, the Deputy Attorney General for the DOJ released a memo that outlined a new policy direction for the DOJ regarding the enforcement of laws related to digital assets. The memo emphasized ending the previous...more

ArentFox Schiff

Changes in DOJ Policy on Digital Assets Enforcement

ArentFox Schiff on

On April 7, the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Todd Blanche issued a memorandum entitled “Ending Regulation By Prosecution,” detailing a significant shift in the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) approach to digital assets....more

Ballard Spahr LLP

A New Era for Digital Assets: The Impact of DOJ’s Shift Away from Regulation by Prosecution and Its Implications

Ballard Spahr LLP on

In a significant policy shift, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum titled “Ending Regulation By Prosecution,” on April 7, 2025, signaling a change in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) approach to digital...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

DOJ Narrows Crypto Enforcement Focus to Fraud and Criminal Conduct

On April 7, in a significant policy shift, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced via the release of a memorandum that it will no longer pursue criminal enforcement actions that effectively impose regulatory...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

U.S. Department of Justice Curtails “Regulation by Prosecution” in Digital Asset Enforcement

A new DOJ policy directs prosecutors to focus on crypto fraud and use of digital assets to facilitate other crimes. On April 7, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a Memorandum titled, “Ending Regulation by...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

First Stand-Alone Crypto Tax Fraud Case Leads to Two-Year Prison Sentence

On December 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that Frank Richard Ahlgren III was sentenced to two years in prison for filing a false tax return underreporting gains from selling $3.7 million in...more

BakerHostetler

Weekly Blockchain Blog - November 2024 #4

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Stablecoin Initiatives Announced by Fintech Companies, DeFi Protocols - Major U.S. payments firm recently announced plans to enable “disbursement partners” to use the PYUSD stablecoin to settle cross-border money...more

BakerHostetler

Weekly Blockchain Blog - November 2024 #3

BakerHostetler on

Crypto Exchanges and Stablecoin Issuers Announce Multiple New Products - Multiple crypto sector companies have recently announced new products. In a press release, LayerZero, “an omnichain interoperability protocol that...more

BakerHostetler

Weekly Blockchain Blog - June 2024 #4

BakerHostetler on

Crypto Companies Announce Licenses, Acquisitions, New Products - According to recent reports, a major Chicago-based digital asset trading desk recently obtained a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial...more

BakerHostetler

No Further Warnings - Prosecutors Bring First Pure Legal Digital Asset Tax Indictment; More Criminal Cases to Come

BakerHostetler on

After years of explicitly warning taxpayers that failing to report or underreporting income from transactions involving digital assets would lead to criminal charges, federal prosecutors are now beginning to follow through on...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Crypto Couple Plead Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy

Ballard Spahr LLP on

In February 2022, we blogged on the seizure of a record $3.6 billion in stolen Bitcoin (“BTC”) and an accompanying criminal complaint, charging husband and wife Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein and Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan with...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

DOJ Relies on Traditional Statutes To Charge Defendants in Cryptoasset Fraud Cases

Two recent indictments highlight the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) continuing use of the traditional wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft statutes to pursue fraud involving digital assets, indicating that law...more

BakerHostetler

New Crypto Payment and Web3 Products Launch; UK Seeks Input on DeFi Taxation; OFAC Fines Crypto Exchange; SEC, DOJ, CFTC Continue...

BakerHostetler on

Multiple Financial Services Firms Announce New Crypto Products - A major U.S. financial services firm recently launched its Crypto Credential product, “a set of common standards and infrastructure that will help verify...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

U.S., German law enforcement disable darknet crypto mixer

On March 15, U.S. law enforcement, along with German criminal authorities, disabled a darknet cryptocurrency “mixing” service used to allegedly launder more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency underlying ransomware, darknet...more

BakerHostetler

Australia and BIS Address CBDCs; OCC, PCAOB and U.S. Senators Address Crypto Risks; SEC, DOJ and USSS Continue Crypto Enforcement...

BakerHostetler on

Reserve Bank of Australia and BIS Commence Efforts to Advance CBDCs - In a recent announcement, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) released details on an ongoing...more

Perkins Coie

DOJ Brings First Criminal Charges Stemming From Use of Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plan

Perkins Coie on

On March 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed an indictment against the CEO of a publicly traded healthcare company (the Executive) relating to charges of an insider trading scheme. The indictment represents...more

Polsinelli

“Now Yous Can’t Leave”: SEC Finds Itself in Formidable Fight Over Attempt to Assert Regulatory Domain over Secondary Sales of...

Polsinelli on

In July of 2022, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) each alleged insider trading violations against a former Coinbase employee Ishan Wahi (“Ishan”), his brother...more

BakerHostetler

DeFi, Stablecoin Products Launch; FASB to Allow Fair Value for Crypto Accounting; SEC Addresses Crypto IRAs; DOJ Enforcement...

BakerHostetler on

DeFi, Stablecoin Products Launch; Bitcoin Network Spikes Due to NFTs - According to reports, a new decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol recently launched that allows users to deposit the stablecoins USDC or DAI in a...more

The Volkov Law Group

Bitzlato Cryptocurrency Exchange Founder Charged with Processing $700 Million in Illicit Funds

The Volkov Law Group on

On Wednesday, January 18, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed a criminal complaint in the Eastern District of New York charging Russian-national Anatoly Legkodymov, a senior executive at Bitzlato Ltd....more

BakerHostetler

Data Published on Crypto Exchange Volume, NFT Royalties, Crypto Crime; Crypto Adoption Continues; DOJ and CFTC Bring Multiple...

BakerHostetler on

New Data Published on 2022 Crypto Exchange Trading Volume, NFT Royalties - According to recent reports, Binance, currently the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, controlled 92 percent of global...more

BakerHostetler

Crypto Payment Products and NFT Initiatives Launch; Crypto Market Data Published; DOJ Brings Charges Alleging Cryptocurrency Ponzi...

BakerHostetler on

New Crypto Payment Products Launch, Reports Publish Crypto Market Data A recent press release announced that MetaMask, the popular Ethereum (ETH) Network crypto wallet provider, will integrate its self-custodial wallets...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

FTX - Billions of Dollars to a Firm with No Controls

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

Things change, at least sometimes. Take Crypto assets. They began as a way to “get off the grid.” Over time some came on to the grid as their popularity increased. Others stayed off....more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

U.S. Department of Justice Report Outlines Key Action Items to Address Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets

A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) report released on September 16, 2022, will have a significant impact on the U.S. Government's ability to investigate and prosecute offenses involving digital assets....more

Foley Hoag LLP - White Collar Law &...

New York Federal Prosecutors Indict Defendant in Connection with NFT Insider-Trading Scheme

Federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York recently charged Nathan Chastain with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a purported scheme to illegally profit from sales and purchases of...more

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