Share this article
U.S. DOJ's Crypto Enforcement Director Promises Crackdown on Illicit Behavior on Exchanges: FT
Eun Young Choi said the DoJ is targeting crypto exchanges that allow "criminal actors to easily profit from their crimes and cash out,"
Updated May 15, 2023, 4:25 p.m. Published May 15, 2023, 8:42 a.m.
The U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) head of crypto enforcement has promised a crackdown on illicit behaviour on trading platforms, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Monday.
Eun Young Choi, director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), said the DOJ is targeting crypto exchanges that allow "criminal actors to easily profit from their crimes and cash out," as a means of fighting crypto crime which she said has grown "significantly" in the last four years.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Choi added that the department's focus is on businesses that sidestep anti-money laundering or know-your-customer rules or who do not engage in thorough compliance and risk mitigation.
"We hope that by focusing on those types of platforms, we're going to have a multiplier effect," she said.
The NCET also aims to bring more enforcement actions against investment scams, which Choi describes as "pig butchering" schemes, after a Chinese phrase referencing fattening pigs for slaughter, which involve scammers building relationships with victims over a period of months.
The agency last month announced busting around $112 million from six such scams. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has estimated that $3.31 billion was stolen from people through investment fraud in 2022, with crypto-related scams accounting for over $2.5 billion of that figure.
Read More: What’s the Reality of Crypto in Crime?
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Iran accepts cryptocurrency as payment for advanced weapons
Prospective customers could purchase weapons such as missiles, tanks and drones using crypto, according to a government website.
What to know:
- Iran's Ministry of Defence Export Center is accepting cryptocurrency payments for advanced weapons systems as a means of bypassing international sanctions that the country faces.
- The offer is among the first known instances of a country accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment for military equipment, according to the Financial Times.
- The facility for using cryptocurrency to pay for transactions involving sanctioned countries is already well established.
Top Stories
