The US Department of Justice will broaden its efforts to investigate cryptocurrency-related offenses, uniting the dedicated task force with the cybercrime division.
The National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), created in 2021, will merge into the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), announced Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri.
“The time has come to take NCET to the next level. The project has proven to be an exceptionally successful startup. A merger with CCIPS will give it the resources and the ability to achieve even more,” she said.
According to Argentieri, the merger will double the number of prosecutors available to work on crimes involving digital assets.
“For all those involved in cybercrime, it has become clear that their work is intertwined with cryptocurrencies, and in the future this will become even more apparent,” she added.
Argentieri noted that another consequence of the merger will be a higher profile for NCET investigations.
The official recalled some of the group’s results. In January, the department arrested the founder of Bitzlato Anatoly Legkodymov on charges of laundering $700 million tied to the Hydra darknet marketplace.
In December 2022, in Puerto Rico the organizer of the attack was detained on the DeFi platform Mango Markets, Avraham Eisenberg. The damages from the group’s exploit amounted to $116 million.
Argentieri also announced the departure of NCET’s first director — In Yen Choi. Claudia Kiros will replace her.
In May, the former head of the group announced a tightening of measures against illicit activities on crypto trading platforms.