Trump Appoints Pro-Crypto Todd Blanche To Lead DOJ As Bondi Exits 

President Donald Trump announced on April 2 that Attorney General Pam Bondi will be transitioning to a private sector role, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, his former personal criminal defense lawyer, stepping in as acting head of the Department of Justice. (DOJ). The shakeup puts one of Washington’s most prominent crypto-friendly officials at the helm of the nation’s top law enforcement agency.

Trump praised Bondi in a Truth Social post multiple outlets have linked to frustration over the DOJ’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and its failure to successfully prosecute several of the president’s political opponents. Bondi was the second cabinet official Trump ousted in the past month, following Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Bondi herself posted on social media platform X, that ” I remain eternally grateful for the trust that President Trump placed in me to Make America Safe Again.”

Blanche’s crypto track record: ‘Ending regulation by prosecution’

For the crypto industry, Blanche’s elevation is arguably the most consequential personnel change at the DOJ since Trump took office.

In April 2025, just a month into his role as Deputy AG, Blanche signed a four-page memo titled “Ending Regulation by Prosecution” that fundamentally reshaped the DOJ’s approach to digital assets. The memo halted ongoing investigations into crypto companies, dealers, and exchanges launched during the Biden administration, and disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), a unit that had secured several high-profile convictions.

The NCET had previously won a conviction in a $110 million crypto fraud scheme, secured a guilty plea from a Russian national who processed over $700 million through an illicit marketplace, and assisted the multiagency investigation into Binance that resulted in founder Changpeng Zhao’s guilty plea and a $4.3 billion settlement.

In the memo, Blanche called the Biden DOJ’s approach “a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution, which was ill conceived and poorly executed.” He directed the department to focus narrowly on individuals who victimize digital asset investors and on terrorists or drug traffickers who use crypto illicitly — not the platforms that host them.

CoinDesk named Blanche to its Most Influential 2025 list for the impact of the memo, though attorneys noted its practical effect was mixed. Prosecutors in the Do Kwon and Samourai Wallet cases argued the memo did not apply; Kwon ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years, while the Samourai developers also pleaded guilty.

The ethics controversy

Blanche’s crypto enforcement rollback has been shadowed by a conflict-of-interest controversy that remains unresolved as he steps into the AG role.

According to financial disclosure records, Blanche held between $159,000 and $485,000 in crypto-related assets at the time he issued the April 2025 memo. His portfolio included Bitcoin valued between $100,000 and $250,000, along with positions in Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Ethereum Classic, Polygon, Polkadot, BAT, Quant, and Decentralized, as well as stock holdings in Coinbase.

Blanche had signed an ethics agreement in February 2025 pledging to divest his crypto holdings within 90 days of his Senate confirmation and not to participate in any matter with a “direct and predictable effect” on his financial interests until divestment was complete. He was confirmed on March 5 — but issued the enforcement memo on April 7, before divesting.

Ethics filings show Blanche eventually transferred his crypto holdings to adult children and a grandchild in late May and early June 2025 — more than a month after issuing the memo. The Campaign Legal Center estimated his Bitcoin holdings alone rose approximately 34% between the memo date and his divestment.

In January 2026, six Democratic senators — including Elizabeth Warren, Dick Durbin, and Mazie Hirono — accused Blanche of a “glaring conflict of interest” and demanded he provide all communications with ethics officials and the crypto industry related to the decision. The Campaign Legal Center also filed a formal complaint with the DOJ inspector general, alleging Blanche’s actions constituted a “blatant” violation of federal conflict-of-interest law.

The DOJ has maintained that the matter “was appropriately flagged, addressed, and cleared in advance.”

What comes next

Blanche’s tenure as acting AG may be brief. Multiple outlets report that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is the leading candidate for permanent Attorney General, though Trump has not finalized a decision. Any permanent nominee would require Senate confirmation.

For the crypto industry, the key question is whether Blanche — even in an interim capacity — will use his position to further entrench the DOJ’s lighter-touch approach to digital asset enforcement, or whether a Zeldin appointment would chart a different course. Zeldin, a former congressman and Army veteran with limited prosecutorial experience, has no known public record on crypto policy.

Either way, the DOJ’s posture toward crypto enforcement has shifted dramatically under Blanche’s influence — and his elevation to the top seat, however temporary, signals the continuation of what the Trump administration has framed as making the U.S. “the crypto capital of the world.”

Also Read: SEC Under Fire as Senator Investigates Trump-Linked Crypto Deals

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