CoinDesk
A bipartisan pair of U.S. House lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to establish a Federal Cryptocurrency Theft Task Force, placing it under the authority of the U.S. attorney general and drawing in the DOJ, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Treasury Department. The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who sits on the House Financial Services Committee.
Gottheimer pointed to $11 billion in crypto thefts and scams last year, arguing that victims currently have "nowhere to turn" and that the task force would create "a single federal point of contact." Gooden framed the effort as both a consumer protection measure and a trust-building exercise for the broader digital asset ecosystem.
Why it matters
The bill arrives in a regulatory vacuum. The DOJ's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team — the previous coordinating body — was disbanded early in the Trump administration, with new leadership arguing it amounted to regulation-by-enforcement. The new proposal takes a different posture: voluntary coordination that explicitly respects local law enforcement control, while giving investigators a unified federal hub for crypto theft cases ranging from pig-butchering fraud to state-sponsored hacking.
The Satoshi Action Fund's CEO Dannis Porter called the task force the "unified federal response" that victims, investigators, and local law enforcement have been missing. The Digital Chamber echoed that framing, calling inter-agency coordination "critical" for tracing illicit activity and pursuing bad actors.
Market impact
For the crypto industry, a credible federal enforcement mechanism targeting theft — rather than the industry itself — is a structurally bullish signal.
Frequently asked questions
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Which federal agencies would be involved in the proposed crypto-theft task force?
The bill calls for coordination among the Department of Justice, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Treasury Department, all operating under the authority of the U.S. attorney general.
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Why was a new task force needed after the DOJ already had a crypto enforcement unit?
The DOJ's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team was disbanded early in the Trump administration, whose leaders argued it was regulating the industry through enforcement. The new bill is framed around victim protection and voluntary inter-agency coordination rather than industry oversight.
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What are the chances this bill actually becomes law?
Passage is uncertain — the bill must either clear a House committee or attach to a must-pass legislative package. However, bipartisan sponsorship from members of both the House Judiciary and House Financial Services committees gives it more legislative runway than most crypto bills.
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