DOJ

In an effort to enhance security and legal compliance in the cryptocurrency market, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is vigorously cracking down on a network of programmers and IT staff from North Korea. The DOJ accuses this group of having "earned" millions of dollars in cryptocurrency by using fake identities and working remotely for global blockchain companies, then laundering the money and transferring it back to the Pyongyang government, which is under heavy international sanctions.

🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (09/04/25)

1️⃣ Argentine Congress Approves Probe into Officials Over Libra Scandal ‼️

Argentina's Chamber of Deputies voted Tuesday to advance three draft resolutions that would establish a special commission to investigate government officials connected to the Libra memecoin scandal. For context, the scandal has plagued President Javier Milei's administration since February. Milei faced calls for impeachment and fraud charges after he publicly endorsed the Libra token, which collapsed in value and caused damages to investors. The list of officials to be summoned as part of the investigation includes the country's chief of staff, minister of economy, minister of justice and head of the National Securities Commission (CNV).

2️⃣ Aavegotchi NFT Gaming Community Votes To Migrate To Base, Sunset Polygon Deployment ⚡️

The community behind Aavegotchi, an NFT protocol focused on Web3 gaming, has reportedly voted to migrate from its existing deployment on Polygon to Base, the Etheruem Layer 2 supported by Coinbase. As part of the move, Pixelcraft Studios, the development firm behind Aavegotchi, will sunset its “Geist” Layer 3. All Aavegotchi assets will be minted “1:1” on Base. The migration is expected to take four to six weeks, including an audit period.

In a proposal in February, Aavegotchi founder coderdan wrote,

Given the broader market downturn on alts, especially in NFT and gaming, Pixelcraft Studios recently made significant team cuts to reduce our burn and extend runway. The L2 market is becoming increasingly competitive, and the L3 market is not gaining significant traction. Although in theory it should not be important where you deploy your game, in practice eyeballs go where liquidity flows, and TVL on Polygon PoS has been sideways or decreasing ever since 2022. Thus, it is the right move for Aavegotchi to leave Polygon and either create our own chain, or join a growing chain with strong ecosystem support.

3️⃣ Ripple Acquires Crypto-Friendly Prime Broker Hidden Road For $1.25B 💰
#Ripple
Blockchain-based payments network Ripple has reportedly acquired crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road in a $1.25 billion deal, marking one of the largest mergers in the crypto industry's history. Notably, the deal will make Ripple the first crypto firm to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker. For context, Hidden Road currently clears more than $3 trillion across more than 300 institutions. Commenting on the acquisition, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse noted that the firm has been a customer of Hidden Road for years and “knows their breadth of expertise firsthand.” He also mentioned that Hidden Road’s $3 trillion in annual clearing will tap into Ripple-backed XRP and its underlying decentralised, public blockchain, the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

4️⃣ DOJ Will Shutter Crypto Unit, Back Off Services Like Tornado Cash ▶️
#DOJ
The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly disbanding the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). According to an agency memo circulated Monday evening, the crypto-dedicated enforcement team will no longer pursue criminal cases in several key crypto-related areas. This includes criminal charges against crypto exchanges, crypto mixing services, or holders of cold wallets for “acts of their end users or unwitting violations of regulations” unless those violations include crimes like embezzlement, scams, rug pulls, and hacks. Notably, in cases where a criminal enterprise like the Lazarus Group uses a crypto service to launder funds, prosecutors will only pursue the criminal enterprise itself, and “will not pursue actions against the platforms that these enterprises utilise to conduct their illegal activities.”

5️⃣ Melania Solana Meme Coin Team Quietly Dumps $30 Million in Tokens: Bubblemaps 🔍
#solana According to blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps, the team behind MELANIA (a meme coin linked to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump) has moved and “quietly sold” $30 million worth of the token out of the project’s community funds. Onchain data shows that the tokens were moved to a single wallet before being “split across multiple addresses.” Neither the project team nor “launch strategist” Hayden Davis has offered any explanation for the movement of the assets yet.

Crypto industry leaders have sent a letter urging the White House to drop the criminal case against Roman Storm – co-founder of Tornado Cash, who is accused of money laundering. Can pressure from the crypto community change the landscape? Let's analyze in detail.

Pressure from the Crypto Community: Drop the Case Against Roman Storm

On Monday (04/21/2025), the DeFi Education Fund, along with venture capital funds such as Paradigm, Multicoin Capital, and 6th Man Ventures, sent a letter to David Sacks – crypto and AI advisor to the White House – requesting the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to withdraw the 'unlawful' charges against Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash. Storm was indicted in the Southern District Court of New York on charges of money laundering, violating U.S. sanctions, and operating an unlicensed money transmission service. The trial is expected to take place in July in Manhattan.

In a shocking turn of events in the crypto world, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has just announced the dissolution of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) and has suspended criminal prosecutions against crypto services such as exchanges, coin mixing tools, and cold wallets, unless related to clear crimes such as fraud, rug pulls, or hacks.

This information was disclosed in an internal memo sent to DOJ employees on Monday evening, signed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. On Tuesday morning, Amanda Tuminelli, the executive director of the DeFi Education Fund advocacy group, publicly announced this memo on social media X.

U.S. Department of Justice receives Bitcoin liquidation ruling from Silk Road

According to a ruling from a U.S. court on December 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been authorized to liquidate 69,370 BTC (worth 6.5 billion USD), this Bitcoin was seized from the Silk Road black market. This case continues to create downward pressure on Bitcoin prices, as the market reacts negatively to this information.

Case details

• The number of Bitcoins seized by the DOJ from 'Person X', who surrendered this massive amount during the investigation of illegal activities on Silk Road.