The DOJ’s decision marks a turning point in the relationship between U.S. institutions and the digital asset space.
According to Fortune, on April 7 the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it will cease investigations and criminal charges against cryptocurrency exchanges, mixing services, and wallets.
In its official statement, the DOJ declared:
“The Department of Justice will no longer engage in regulation through enforcement in this sector. Specifically, the Department will no longer target virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, or offline wallets for the actions of their end users or for unintentional regulatory violations.”
According to the announcement, the Department will immediately drop any ongoing investigations into such entities. Furthermore, it will not pursue legal action against developers whose code is used by others to commit crimes.
This decision coincides with the announcement of the disbandment of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), which was launched in 2021 under the Biden administration. The DOJ still reserves the right to prosecute individual bad actors, but only under specific circumstances.
Phoenix Wallet returns to the U.S. market
One of the first consequences of this new policy comes from the Lightning Network wallet Phoenix Wallet, which announced on its X profile that it is returning to the U.S. market:
