tl;dr
A prominent US Attorney's office plans to reduce its focus on crypto cases with Donald Trump's potential return to the White House. Trump announced his intention to nominate Jay Clayton, known for crypto-friendly comments, as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. This shift in foc...
U.S. Attorney's office to reduce focus on crypto cases with Jay Clayton's potential nomination and Trump's crypto-friendly stance
Southern District of New York plans to have fewer prosecutors focused on the crypto sector, with regulatory partners taking an active role
Trump's potential return to the White House signals a shift towards protecting and growing the digital asset sector, including strategic management of seized Bitcoin
A prominent US Attorney's office plans to reduce its focus on crypto cases with Donald Trump's potential return to the White House. Trump announced his intention to nominate Jay Clayton, known for crypto-friendly comments, as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. This shift in focus was expressed by Scott Hartman, co-chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force at the Southern District. Despite this change, the office will not overlook crypto entirely and acknowledges the active involvement of regulatory partners in the sector. Damian Williams, the current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, has prosecuted several crypto cases in recent years. Trump, who previously expressed skepticism about Bitcoin and crypto, has pledged to support and expand the digital asset sector if he returns to office, including promises to dismiss the current SEC Chair and change policies affecting crypto investors and companies. Additionally, he proposed holding seized Bitcoin as an investment rather than selling it on the open market.
A prominent US Attorney’s office reportedly plans to reduce its focus on crypto cases with Donald Trump headed back to the White House. On Thursday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he planned to nominate Jay Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Clayton led the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during Trump’s previous term and has made crypto-friendly comments recently. Scott Hartman, co-chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force at the Southern District, said at a conference this week that the office won’t ignore crypto but also won’t have as many prosecutors focused on the sector, Reuters reports. “We brought a lot of big cases in the wake of the crypto winter – there were a lot of important fraud cases to bring there – but we know our regulatory partners are very active in this space.” Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, prosecuted numerous crypto cases in recent years, including Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. After expressing skepticism about Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto during his previous presidential term, Trump spent the past year on the campaign trail promising to protect and grow the digital asset sector. At campaign events over the past months, he promised to fire current SEC Chair Gary Gensler on his first day in office and end policies that prevent crypto investors and companies from using digital assets. He also said the US would stop selling its trove of seized Bitcoin on the open market and instead strategically hold the asset as an investment.