U.S. Representatives Lance Gooden and Josh Gottheimer have introduced the Federal Cryptocurrency Theft Enforcement and Coordination Act, aiming to establish a new task force within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat cryptocurrency theft. This initiative seeks to fill the gap left by the DOJ’s disbanding of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) in April 2025. The proposed task force would include representatives from the DOJ, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of the Treasury, focusing on preventing, investigating, and prosecuting cryptocurrency theft.
The task force would also provide training and technical guidance to local law enforcement on evidence collection and asset tracing. Despite the FBI reporting 181,000 cryptocurrency-related complaints in 2025 with losses over $11 billion, the bill excludes market regulation from its scope and leaves existing criminal statutes unchanged. However, the proposal lacks details on funding, staffing, and victim response, raising concerns about its implementation.
