Congress has proposed a DOJ cryptocurrency theft task force that would coordinate investigations, asset tracing, and victim support across federal agencies. According to legislation introduced by Representatives Lance Gooden (Texas Republican) and Josh Gottheimer (New Jersey Democrat), 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. The proposal comes months after the Justice Department dissolved its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) as part of a policy overhaul that reduced enforcement pressure on the digital asset industry. The task force would coordinate investigations across senior officials from the DOJ, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, including Homeland Security Investigations, and the Treasury Department, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, with authority granted to the Attorney General to add other federal law enforcement agencies when necessary.
The legislation addresses significant theft levels in the cryptocurrency sector, with $11.3 billion in thefts and scams recorded last year. As reported by the FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report, Americans filed 181,565 cryptocurrency complaints during 2025, representing a 21% increase compared to the previous year. Investment fraud generated the largest share of losses, with $7.2 billion in investment scams alone. Older Americans reported the highest losses, with people over 60 filing 44,555 complaints and losing approximately $4.43 billion through crypto-related schemes. The task force would serve as a single federal point of contact for preventing and investigating cryptocurrency theft, addressing what advocates describe as inconsistent responses across jurisdictions including federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. Data from the FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report provides additional context, recording nearly $21 billion in total cyber-enabled losses alongside the cryptocurrency-specific figures.
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 stated 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, with prosecutorial efforts instead focusing 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, including the prosecution of crypto mixer Tornado Cash and co-founder Roman Storm, and investigations into North Korean laundering networks connected to cryptocurrency theft.
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 bill specifically outlines responsibilities including 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 forms a central part of the proposal, with technical guidance, training programs, and information-sharing efforts to be extended to law enforcement agencies and prosecutors. The proposal also includes coordination with international partners to help address cases involving cross-border fund movements. Language included in the bill specifically excludes cryptocurrency markets, digital assets, financial products, and financial institutions from the task force's regulatory authority, with existing federal regulatory powers, criminal statutes, and private rights of action remaining unchanged under the proposal.
