Tron and Tether Tap Chainalysis as T3 Crime Unit Disbands

New Task Force Targets Illicit USDT Activity on Tron Blockchain

Tron, Tether, and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis have launched a new Digital Crime Task Force aimed at identifying and disrupting illicit activities involving the USDT stablecoin on the Tron blockchain. The initiative will leverage Chainalysis’s data and artificial intelligence tools to flag suspicious transactions and provide law enforcement with actionable intelligence to trace and freeze illicit funds more efficiently.

The task force’s formation comes amid reports of challenges faced by previous anti-crime efforts. Bloomberg reported in early November that the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a collaboration between Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs established in 2024, was disbanded in late August. An unnamed source cited by the outlet attributed the unit’s dissolution to slow response times and poor coordination.

The priorities for the new Digital Crime Task Force are broad, encompassing investment and romance scams, cryptocurrency theft, terrorist financing, North Korean cyber operations, and cartel money laundering.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized the urgency of these efforts, stating, “Criminals are using AI to move faster than ever, and waiting for a victim to report a crime is no longer good enough.” He also noted that Tether has cumulatively frozen over $7 billion in USDT.

Data from TRM Labs highlights the significant role of USDT on Tron in illicit finance. Between January 1 and September 7, USDT on Tron accounted for 99.9% of the $1.07 billion in cryptocurrency received by 34 casinos in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, a city known as a hub for scam operations. Casinos linked to U.S.-sanctioned networks received $687 million of these inflows. TRM Labs attributed the widespread use of USDT on Tron in the region to its low fees and deep liquidity.

Recent high-profile hacks have also underscored the use of USDT on Tron for illicit fund movement. Following the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025, stolen funds were reportedly converted to USDT on Tron and cashed out through suspected Chinese over-the-counter trading services, according to blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic. During the record $6.3 billion Binance hack on October 29, hackers allegedly swapped approximately $234 million in USDT for Tron’s native token (TRX) before Tether froze the remaining USDT in wallets linked to the theft, as reported by Crystal Intelligence.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has attributed both the Bybit and Binance hacks to North Korea. However, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, rejected the attribution for the Binance hack in a statement published by North Korean state media on November 3, calling it another instance of Washington attempting to blame Pyongyang.