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Representatives Lance Gooden (R-TX) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced legislation Tuesday to create a Department of Justice task force dedicated to investigating cryptocurrency theft, following FBI data showing Americans reported more than $11 billion in crypto-related losses last year.
If passed, the measure would create a specialized task force within the Department of Justice charged with investigating crypto theft, improving asset recovery efforts, and strengthening coordination among federal agencies.
The proposal arrives just over a year after the Justice Department shut down its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), marking a notable shift in the federal government’s approach to digital asset enforcement.
According to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, victims submitted 181,565 complaints involving cryptocurrency, with reported losses exceeding $11 billion. The figures underscore the growing challenge facing law enforcement agencies as criminals exploit the borderless nature of blockchain networks.
“Crypto criminals are stealing billions from Americans, and Washington lacks a coordinated strategy to stop them,” Gooden said in a statement announcing the bill.
Under the proposed legislation, the DOJ crypto theft task force would operate under the authority of the Attorney General or a designated senior official.
The unit would bring together representatives from the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the Treasury Department, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The Attorney General would also have the authority to add other agencies as needed.
Unlike previous regulatory efforts aimed at policing the broader crypto sector, the new initiative would focus exclusively on operational enforcement.
Its responsibilities would include developing best practices for collecting digital evidence, tracing stolen assets across blockchain networks, improving investigative techniques, and supporting victims of crypto-related crimes.
The legislation also calls for enhanced cooperation with state and local law enforcement agencies through technical assistance, training programs, and intelligence-sharing initiatives.
Given that many crypto theft cases involve overseas actors and funds that move rapidly across jurisdictions, the task force would coordinate closely with international partners to pursue cross-border investigations.
Importantly, lawmakers emphasized that the proposal would not expand federal oversight of cryptocurrency markets or alter existing financial regulations.
The bill specifically excludes digital asset markets, financial institutions, and crypto products from the scope of the DOJ crypto theft task force.
The legislation follows the April 2025 decision by the Justice Department to dismantle the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.
In a memo first reported by Fortune, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche directed the immediate closure of the unit and criticized what he described as “regulation by prosecution” within the crypto industry.
The move represented a significant policy shift away from targeting crypto infrastructure providers, including exchanges, wallet services, and mixing platforms.
Instead, federal prosecutors were instructed to prioritize cases involving individuals and organizations that use digital assets to commit fraud, facilitate money laundering, or harm investors.
Established during the Biden administration, NCET brought together specialists from the DOJ’s cybercrime and money laundering divisions and led several high-profile cases.
Its investigations included actions involving crypto mixer Tornado Cash and co-founder Roman Storm, who faces charges related to alleged money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money transmission business.
The unit also pursued investigations into North Korean-linked laundering networks and prosecuted Avraham Eisenberg over the $114 million exploit of Mango Markets.
While critics argued that NCET blurred the line between software development and criminal liability, supporters said the team provided essential expertise in tackling increasingly sophisticated digital asset crimes.
The proposed DOJ crypto theft task force appears to reflect a middle-ground approach: preserving specialized enforcement capabilities while avoiding broader regulatory intervention.
The FBI’s latest data offers a stark reminder of why lawmakers believe a coordinated response is necessary.
In addition to the 181,565 cryptocurrency-related complaints filed in 2025, overall cyber-enabled losses climbed to nearly $21 billion.
Investment fraud remained the biggest driver of crypto-related losses, while phishing schemes, wallet compromises, exchange exploits, and impersonation scams continued to proliferate.
Victims often face a fragmented recovery process involving multiple agencies across different jurisdictions, with no single entity responsible for coordinating investigations or asset recovery efforts.
Lawmakers backing the bill argue that the DOJ crypto theft task force would close that gap by serving as a centralized hub for expertise and information sharing.
“Victims deserve a system that works together instead of forcing them to navigate a maze of agencies,” Gottheimer said in support of the proposal.
Supporters believe the new framework could improve recovery rates for stolen funds while helping investigators respond more quickly to emerging threats.
Whether the legislation gains bipartisan support remains to be seen, but the proposal highlights a growing consensus in Washington that crypto-related crime now demands a more specialized response.
As digital asset adoption expands and criminal tactics become increasingly sophisticated, the success of any future DOJ crypto theft task force may ultimately be measured by its ability to deliver faster investigations, stronger international cooperation, and better outcomes for victims.
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