President Donald Trump formally nominated Todd Blanche as permanent Attorney General on June 8, 2026, setting the stage for what promises to be one of the most contentious confirmation fights of his second term. The nomination pits the White House against not just Senate Democrats, but potentially a handful of Republican dissenters who have questions about Blanche’s financial entanglements with the crypto industry he’s been tasked with policing.
Blanche has been serving as acting AG since April 2026, when Trump dismissed Pam Bondi from the role. Before that, he was confirmed as deputy AG in March 2025 by a razor-thin 52-46 vote.
The crypto problem
Blanche authored the April 7, 2025 memo titled “Ending Regulation By Prosecution,” which fundamentally rewired how the DOJ approaches crypto enforcement. That memo dismantled the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, a unit specifically built to go after bad actors in digital asset markets, and narrowed the DOJ’s focus on crypto-related cases.
Blanche disclosed crypto holdings valued between $159,000 and $485,000 at the time he was making these policy changes. His portfolio included Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
In January 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Dick Durbin, and Mazie Hirono publicly accused Blanche of conflicts of interest, pointing to the uncomfortable overlap between his personal financial interests and his professional decisions at the DOJ.
Blanche has pledged to divest his crypto holdings within 90 days of his confirmation. Critics argue that promise arrives a bit late, given that the policy changes were already made while the assets were still in his portfolio.
A confirmation fight with friendly fire
Blanche’s deputy AG confirmation squeaked through at 52-46, meaning he couldn’t afford to lose more than a couple of Republican votes even then. The permanent AG job carries more weight, more scrutiny, and more political risk for senators who vote yes.
Blanche previously represented Trump in the New York hush-money case, which is how he landed on the president’s radar in the first place.
What this means for crypto markets
If Blanche is confirmed, the DOJ’s lighter-touch approach to crypto enforcement is likely to continue. The dismantling of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team was already a significant signal to the industry that the federal government was stepping back from aggressive prosecution of crypto firms.
The last time the crypto industry operated in a regulatory vacuum, it produced FTX, Terra/Luna, and a graveyard of rug pulls that wiped out billions in retail investor wealth.