• The Department of Justice released a press release stating they would be taking “International Crypto Enforcement Action”.
• This led to speculation on Crypto Twitter as to what this could mean, ranging from a stablecoin ban to increased regulations.
• In the end, the press release was in regards to the little-known Russian exchange Bitzlato, who had a peak value of only $6 million.

The Department of Justice made an announcement early on Wednesday that they would be releasing a press release detailing “International Crypto Enforcement Action” later in the day. This news was met with a wave of speculation on Crypto Twitter about the potential implications of such a move. Would there be a stablecoin ban? Increased regulations? It seemed that nobody really knew what to expect.

When the press release was finally released, it became clear that the Department of Justice was taking enforcement action against the little-known Russian exchange Bitzlato. Data from Arkham Intel, amplified by Coinbase director Conor Grogan, showed that Bitzlato tagged wallets only represented a mere $11,000 in value in the present day, with the peak value of $6 million having been reached at some point in the past. Millions of dollars had since been withdrawn or seized from accounts that got word ahead of time, but this still represented a drop in the bucket in comparison to other cryptocurrency volumes.

The entire sequence of events surrounding the Department of Justice’s enforcement action was undoubtedly odd, and many in the space were left wondering why such a wide-scale announcement was made for a minor exchange such as Bitzlato. While this lack of understanding casts the Department of Justice’s actions in a negative light, the fact that the DoJ is still taking the time to investigate the crypto space and crack down on potential violations of the law is still a positive sign for the future of the industry.