{"id":157226,"date":"2026-04-27T18:33:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=157226"},"modified":"2026-04-27T18:33:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:33:50","slug":"bitcoin-isnt-going-anywhere-trump-officials-discuss-doj-fbi-refocus-on-crypto-crime-not-developers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=157226","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bitcoin Isn\u2019t Going Anywhere\u2019: Trump Officials Discuss DOJ, FBI Refocus on Crypto Crime, Not Developers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Bitcoin Isn\u2019t Going Anywhere\u2019: Trump Officials Discuss DOJ, FBI Refocus on Crypto Crime, Not Developers<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche<\/a> and FBI Director Kash Patel <\/a>used a Bitcoin 2026 Conference panel to signal a shift in how the U.S. government approaches digital assets, stressing support for developers and a focus on crime rather than code.<\/p>\n

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal<\/a>, moderating the virtual discussion, opened by asking Blanche and Patel for their Bitcoin origin stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blanche said his son pushed him toward Bitcoin and called him a \u201cclown and idiot\u201d for not investing, while also noting that his government role bars him from owning assets. Patel framed Bitcoin and other virtual assets as economic infrastructure, saying they are assets \u201cjust like business and everything else\u201d that \u201cpower and muscle the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanche: Prior administrations suppressed bitcoin and crypto<\/h2>\n

Grewal then pressed the officials on past prosecutions tied to crypto. Blanche said some prior FBI and Justice Department efforts were misguided, suggesting that earlier administrations pursued cases against developers in ways that cut across core rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He argued that the government should not treat software builders as stand\u2011ins for criminals and said the focus should be on \u201cthe third party criminal and not\u2026 the builders and platform builders.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Blanche, aggressive enforcement caused some platforms to leave the United States and reflected a lack of understanding that \u201cstifled innovation\u201d and \u201csuffocated enthusiasts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last administration, we were stifling innovation and depriving US citizen and Bitcoin and crypto enthusiasts from doing what they should be able to,\u201d Blanche said.<\/p>\n

Blanche drew a line between criminal use of crypto and the underlying technology. He said the government will not excuse bad actors who use Bitcoin or other digital assets for crime, but he rejected the idea that ordinary participants should live in constant fear of prosecution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On policy questions tied to cases such as Tornado Cash<\/a>, Roman Storm, and Samourai Wallet, he said that if a person is developing software and is not the third\u2011party user committing a crime, \u201cyou are not going to get investigated and\/or get charged.\u201d He told coders that if they are under investigation, \u201cyour lawyer should feel very comfortable working with the FBI.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patel echoed that stance while stressing active enforcement against fraud. He said the FBI has spent the past year targeting scam centers that use crypto, including networks tied to foreign adversaries that seek to \u201cpolice Americans and fleece them from their hard earned assets.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

His goal, he said, is for the bureau to \u201clook at the right people\u201d and for Americans who buy digital assets to feel their funds are safe. Patel added that the FBI is proactively investigating crime in Bitcoin and other digital assets and is pushing prevention work on the \u201cfront end\u201d to stop schemes before they reach victims.<\/p>\n

Coders shouldn\u2019t \u201csleep with their eye open\u201d\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Asked why this moment is different for Bitcoin policy<\/a>, Blanche pointed to the White House. He said the shift \u201cstarts with President Trump,\u201d describing the current team as \u201cby far the most pro\u2011crypto administration in the world\u201d and stating that \u201cwe want to be the crypto capital of the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blanche criticized what he called \u201cattacks on the industry\u201d by the prior administration as \u201coutrageous\u201d and \u201cill advised,\u201d and said the government needs to adjust its thinking about digital assets and open\u2011source code.<\/p>\n

Both officials framed the emerging doctrine in simple terms: Bitcoin and code are not the targets, crime is. Patel said federal law enforcement will prosecute criminal activity \u201cin Bitcoin or out of Bitcoin.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blanche said people in crypto \u201cshouldn\u2019t sleep with one eye open\u201d over routine development or use, as long as they are not engaged in fraud, money laundering, or other offenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This post \u2018Bitcoin Isn\u2019t Going Anywhere\u2019: Trump Officials Discuss DOJ, FBI Refocus on Crypto Crime, Not Developers<\/a> first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine<\/a> and is written by Micah Zimmerman<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin Magazine \u2018Bitcoin Isn\u2019t Going Anywhere\u2019: Trump Officials Discuss DOJ, FBI Refocus on Crypto Crime, Not Developers Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel used a Bitcoin 2026 Conference panel to signal a shift in how the U.S. government approaches digital assets, stressing support for developers and a focus on crime rather […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":157227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157226"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=157226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/157227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=157226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=157226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=157226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}