One side is almost 'frozen', while the other side is still handling very heavy matters, and the brothers see it this way to understand what the U.S. thinks about crypto.
I read these two pieces of news at the same time and found them quite thought-provoking, so I want to share them with you from a more everyday perspective. One side is the SEC announcing that due to the government shutdown, starting from January 31, 2026, it will operate with extremely limited personnel. The other side is the DOJ sentencing nearly 4 years in prison for a cross-border crypto money laundering case. Putting these two events side by side, I see that the way the U.S. is managing crypto is clearer than ever.
For the SEC, a shutdown means many things will slow down significantly. They have stated that they will only prioritize emergency situations related to investor protection and market stability. Tasks like reviewing applications, processing paperwork, or some enforcement cases that are not urgent are likely to be put on hold. However, an important detail is that EDGAR continues to operate normally, meaning the backbone of the financial market is not shut down. The SEC has not disappeared; they are just 'doing the minimum to prevent a collapse.'
Meanwhile, the DOJ presents a completely different picture. A Chinese citizen named Jingliang Su was recently sentenced by a U.S. court to 46 months in prison for laundering nearly 37 million USD from a crypto scam targeting 174 victims in the U.S. The method is quite familiar: money from a fake exchange, converted to USDT, and then transferred back to scam centers in Cambodia. In addition to the prison sentence, this individual was also ordered to repay nearly 27 million USD to the victims. No beating around the bush, no leniency.
My insight is this: a shutdown does not mean the U.S. is abandoning crypto. The SEC may slow down, but the DOJ does not. Administrative aspects, paperwork, and policies may be held up, but when it comes to fraud, money laundering, or direct harm to U.S. users, they will still be dealt with severely. Anyone thinking 'the SEC is on break so the market can relax' is a bit naive.
Looking broadly, I see this as a sign of a quite typical phase in the cycle. Managers are no longer trying to control everything at once. Instead, they choose to prioritize: whatever directly impacts market confidence and safety is addressed first, while procedural matters and lengthy legal disputes can wait.
For crypto, this environment is not necessarily bad. It just indicates that the rules of the game are becoming clearer. Those who conduct business seriously and transparently will find that whether there is a shutdown or not, it won't affect them much. However, anyone who still thinks they can bend the rules, scam, or shift risks onto others and hide on-chain, should take the DOJ's story as a rather chilling reminder.
