Chainalysis Joins Forces with Tron and Tether Following T3 Unit Dissolution
The newly formed task force will target illegal USDT transactions on Tron's network while assisting authorities in tracking suspicious activity and expediting asset freezes.
On Thursday, Tron, Tether and Chainalysis revealed the formation of a collaborative task force aimed at detecting and stopping criminal activity related to USDT (USDT) stablecoin transactions on the Tron network.
According to an announcement provided to Cointelegraph, the Digital Crime Task Force will leverage blockchain analytics provider Chainalysis' advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities to identify questionable transactions and provide law enforcement agencies with actionable intelligence for tracking and freezing illicit assets.
A November 4 report from Bloomberg indicated that the T3 Financial Crime Unit, established by Tron and Tether in partnership with TRM Labs during 2024, was dissolved in late August. According to an anonymous source referenced in the report, the unit's effectiveness was compromised by delayed responses and inadequate coordination among participants.
Cointelegraph reached out to Tether, Tron and TRM Labs seeking commentary but had not received responses at the time of publication.
The newly established task force will concentrate its efforts on several key areas, including investment fraud and romance scams, cryptocurrency theft, financing of terrorist activities, North Korean cyber operations and money laundering operations conducted by cartels.
Criminals are using AI to move faster than ever, and waiting for a victim to report a crime is no longer good enough.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino
According to Ardoino, Tether has frozen a cumulative total exceeding $7 billion in USDT.
How criminal networks use USDT on Tron
According to a report by TRM Labs, USDT on Tron represented 99.9% of the $1.07 billion in cryptocurrency received by 34 casinos located in Sihanoukville, a Cambodian city recognized as a center for scam operations, during the period from Jan. 1 to Sept. 7.
Gambling establishments connected to networks under US sanctions received $687 million of these incoming funds. According to TRM Labs, the prevalence of USDT on Tron in this region can be attributed to its minimal transaction fees and substantial liquidity.
In the aftermath of the $1.5 billion Bybit security breach in February 2025, the pilfered assets were exchanged for USDT on Tron and liquidated through Chinese over-the-counter trading services believed to be involved in illicit activities, as reported by blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic.
In the unprecedented $6.3 billion Binance security breach on Oct. 29, attackers converted roughly $234 million in USDT to Tron's native token (TRX) prior to Tether's freezing of the remaining USDT held in two wallet addresses associated with the theft, as documented by Crystal Intelligence.
Both security breaches were attributed to North Korea by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a response published through North Korean state media on Nov. 3, Kim Yo Jong disputed the Binance attribution and referenced Bybit as an additional instance in which she claimed Washington attempted to assign blame to Pyongyang.