Blockchain Legal Resource

On April 8, 2025, Acting CFTC Chairman Caroline D. Pham issued Release Number 9063-25 regarding the digital asset industry. The release favorably cites a recent DOJ memorandum on the digital asset industry, and it instructs the CFTC staff to comply with President Trump’s executive orders regarding digital assets enforcement priorities and charging considerations.

On April 7, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum to all DOJ employees entitled “Ending Regulation By Prosecution.” The memorandum describes DOJ’s new priorities regarding prosecution of crimes involving digital assets and the broader cryptocurrency industry.

US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the US Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ), collectively issued guidance regarding the obligations of non-US based companies and persons to comply with US sanctions (Tri-Seal Compliance Note: Obligations of foreign-based persons to comply with US sanctions and export control laws) (Compliance Note).

What Happened: 

As reported in a Hunton Client Alert, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently issued guidance regarding the voluntary self-disclosure by US businesses of violations of US sanctions and export control laws to these agencies (Tri-Seal Compliance Note: Voluntary Self-Disclosure of Potential Violations) (Compliance Note).

What Happened

The US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) made several recent announcements expanding on its expectations for corporate compliance programs and unveiling new guidance on executive compensation structures, consequence management and business communications and ephemeral messaging.

DOJ also announced a new enforcement push focused on the intersection of corporate crime and national security.

In a series of parallel actions announced on July 21, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated criminal and civil charges against three defendants in the first cryptocurrency insider trading case.