President Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 2 and named his deputy, Todd Blanche, to lead the Department of Justice on an interim basis. For the crypto industry, the move has significant implications — both hopeful and complicated.

Blanche is no stranger to crypto policy. As deputy attorney general, he disbanded the DOJ's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), a Biden-era unit created in 2022. He also signed a four-page memo directing federal prosecutors to stop pursuing regulatory violation cases against crypto companies — a move widely welcomed by the industry.

But Blanche's record has a thornier side. According to a ProPublica report, Blanche held between $159,000 and $485,000 worth of crypto assets — including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and several altcoins — when he signed that enforcement memo. Ethics disclosures show this was in apparent violation of his pledge to divest before working on crypto-related matters. He later transferred the holdings to his adult children and a grandchild.

His tenure as deputy AG also saw continued prosecutions of crypto software developers. Two Bitcoin privacy software developers were sentenced to prison for running an illegal money transmitter, and the DOJ moved to retry Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm on charges the original jury deadlocked on.

The appointment puts a pro-crypto, crypto-invested lawyer at the top of the nation's law enforcement hierarchy — while the DOJ continues aggressive legal actions against individual developers. How Blanche navigates that tension as acting AG will be closely watched across the industry.