Crypto Regulation Specialist Todd Blanche Appointed Acting Attorney General

Todd Blanche has been appointed as the interim head of the Department of Justice, capturing the crypto industry’s attention for a particular reason unrelated to his background.

On Thursday, President Trump revealed that Blanche, who previously held the position of deputy attorney general, would take over from Pam Bondi as Attorney General. The significant point: the individual who drafted the DOJ’s crypto enforcement memo is now in charge of the agency responsible for implementing it.

In April 2025, Blanche signed a four-page directive that disbanded the DOJ’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and directed prosecutors to refrain from pursuing regulatory violation cases against the crypto sector. This document has already influenced at least one ongoing prosecution. Its author is now leading the department.

Key Takeaways:

• Who He Is: Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney, was confirmed as deputy attorney general in March 2025 and is now the interim AG following Pam Bondi’s dismissal.
• What the Memo Did: Blanche’s DOJ memo from April 2025 disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and prohibited prosecutors from pursuing regulatory violation cases against cryptocurrency companies.
• Ethics Exposure: A ProPublica investigation revealed that Blanche held between $159,000 and $485,000 in crypto assets – including BTC, ETH, SOL, and ADA – at the time he signed the enforcement memo, which may have breached his divestiture pledge.
• Enforcement Scope: The memo’s implications have already been tested in the Southern District of New York’s case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, where one charge was dismissed after prosecutors referenced it.
• DeFi Regulation Impact: With Blanche now in charge, the enforcement stance on DeFi protocols, mixing services, and unhosted wallets is unlikely to become more stringent in the near future.
• What to Watch: Whether Blanche seeks a permanent nomination and how his interim role interacts with ongoing federal legislative discussions – including FIT21 and the GENIUS Act – will influence the sustainability of this enforcement reset.

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What the DOJ Crypto Enforcement Memo Actually Does – and Why Todd Blanche Authorship Changes the Calculus

The memo signed by Blanche last April achieved two objectives: it dismantled the DOJ’s dedicated crypto prosecution unit and restricted the prosecutorial focus to fraud and clear criminal activity, moving away from the Biden-era framework that viewed regulatory non-compliance as a criminal basis.

The National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, established in 2022, had served as the institutional framework for that broader strategy.

Over the next month I will be working tirelessly to transition the office of Attorney General to the amazing Todd Blanche before moving to an important private sector role I am thrilled about, and where I will continue fighting for President Trump and this Administration.…

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) April 2, 2026

The document’s immediate effects were evident. In the SDNY’s case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, prosecutors cited the DOJ memo before dropping one charge against Storm – a direct application of the new enforcement philosophy to an ongoing DeFi regulation case.

Storm was later convicted on a separate charge and faces retrial on two additional charges, but the memo’s impact on prosecutorial discretion is already documented.

Blanche’s ascension to interim Attorney General does not alter the memo’s content. It eliminates any institutional ambiguity regarding its survival through a leadership change. The individual who formulated the policy now directs DOJ priorities at the highest level.

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Blanche as Interim AG – What Shifts for DeFi, Mixing Services, and Offshore Platforms

The immediate enforcement implication is one of continuity rather than escalation. Under Blanche, the DOJ is unlikely to reopen the regulatory-violation pathway that the memo closed. This is particularly significant for DeFi protocols operating under ambiguous legal conditions and for mixing services that had been targeted by the previous enforcement framework.

What remains uncertain is the ethics exposure Blanche brings to the role. ProPublica reported that Blanche possessed crypto assets valued between $159,000 and $485,000 when he signed the enforcement memo – a potential breach of his divestiture pledge.

His latest government ethics disclosure indicates that he subsequently transferred holdings in Bitcoin, Solana, ADA, Ethereum, Polygon, DOT, and Quant to his children and grandchild. This timeline now represents a liability rather than a mere footnote.

Photo: Todd Blanche

For exchanges navigating compliance specific to their jurisdictions – the kind of localized licensing pressures observed as platforms enter regulated U.S. markets – Blanche’s appointment suggests that federal enforcement will remain restrained, even as state-level regulators act independently. The contrast between federal pullback and active state enforcement characterizes this moment.

CBS News reported expectations of an extended interim tenure, citing challenges in Senate confirmation for a permanent AG. Trump commended Blanche on Truth Social as “a very talented and respected legal mind”; Blanche replied on X: “Thank you for the trust and the opportunity to serve.”

With FIT21 and broader crypto market structure legislation still pending in the Senate, the longevity of Blanche’s enforcement reset heavily relies on whether Congress formalizes the regulatory boundaries that the memo only outlined – and whether his ethics exposure becomes a barrier to confirmation before that occurs.

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