Congress proposes DOJ crypto theft task force a year after NCET shutdown

Congress has proposed a new Justice Department task force focused on cryptocurrency theft after the FBI received 181,565 crypto-related complaints and more than $11 billion in reported losses during 2025.

According to legislation introduced by Representatives Lance Gooden and Josh Gottheimer, the Federal Cryptocurrency Theft Enforcement and Coordination Act would create a Federal Cryptocurrency Theft Task Force within the Department of Justice and place it under the Attorney General or a designated official.

If approved, the task force would become the federal government’s main coordination body for preventing, investigating, and prosecuting cryptocurrency theft and related crimes. The proposal arrives only months after the Justice Department dissolved its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, or NCET, as part of a policy overhaul that reduced enforcement pressure on the digital asset industry.

As per the bill, senior officials from the DOJ, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, including Homeland Security Investigations, and the Treasury Department, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, would participate in the task force. Authority would also be granted to the Attorney General to add other federal law enforcement agencies when necessary.

Rather than regulating digital asset markets, the proposed body would focus on operational work. Responsibilities outlined in the bill include developing best practices for collecting and analyzing digital evidence, tracing stolen assets, improving investigative techniques, and assisting victims of cryptocurrency-related crimes.

Support for state and local authorities also forms a central part of the proposal. Technical guidance, training programs, and information-sharing efforts would be extended to law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, while coordination with international partners would help address cases involving cross-border fund movements.

Proposal follows NCET shutdown

The legislation has surfaced a little over a year after the Justice Department dismantled the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.

In an April memo first reported by Fortune, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche ordered the unit’s immediate closure and said the department would end what he described as “regulation by prosecution” of the crypto sector.

At the time, the Justice Department stated that prosecutors should devote fewer resources to cases involving exchanges, mixing services, and wallet providers. Prosecutorial efforts, according to the memo, would instead focus on individuals who use digital assets to commit crimes or harm investors.

Created during the Biden administration, NCET brought together prosecutors from the DOJ’s money laundering and cybercrime divisions and coordinated several of the country’s most prominent cryptocurrency investigations.

Its caseload included the prosecution of crypto mixer Tornado Cash and co-founder Roman Storm, who faces charges tied to money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The case became a major point of debate within the crypto industry, where many participants argued that software developers were being held criminally liable for how users employed their code.

NCET also led investigations into North Korean laundering networks connected to cryptocurrency theft and prosecuted Avraham Eisenberg over the $114 million exploit of Mango Markets.

Data from the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report provides part of the rationale behind the new proposal. Alongside the 181,565 cryptocurrency-related complaints and more than $11 billion in reported losses, the bureau recorded nearly $21 billion in total cyber-enabled losses.

Lawmakers behind the bill argue that victims of wallet thefts, phishing attacks, exchange exploits, and other cryptocurrency crimes often encounter fragmented responses across local, federal, and international agencies. Through a dedicated coordination hub, the proposal seeks to concentrate expertise and improve cooperation without expanding federal oversight of cryptocurrency markets.

Language included in the bill specifically excludes cryptocurrency markets, digital assets, financial products, and financial institutions from the task force’s regulatory authority. Existing federal regulatory powers, criminal statutes, and private rights of action would also remain unchanged under the proposal.