The T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU), a collaborative task force formed by Tether, TRON, and TRM Labs, has frozen over $300 million in illicit cryptocurrency assets during its first year of operation, highlighting a major stride in combating financial crime within the blockchain space.
Launched in late 2024, the initiative has grown into a global enforcement model, assisting law enforcement in 23 jurisdictions worldwide. The United States led with $83 million frozen, representing 27% of the total across 37 cases. Progress was rapid, with $100 million frozen by January 2025—including $3 million linked to North Korean hacking networks—and $250 million by August 2025, culminating in the $300 million milestone.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, confirmed collaboration with over 280 law enforcement agencies globally, stating, "Tether is deeply committed to maintaining the integrity of the financial ecosystem... Reaching the USD 300 million milestone demonstrates the real-world impact of blockchain technology in combating financial crime." Justin Sun, founder of TRON, emphasized the deterrent effect, noting that rapid asset freezing warns criminals against misusing USDT on the TRON network.
The T3+ Global Collaborator Program, launched to enhance real-time coordination, saw Binance as its first participant, freezing $6 million from a pig-butchering scam. The task force has primarily targeted such scams, which caused over $9.9 billion in losses in 2024, as well as organized crime and cyber-enabled fraud. Brazil's Federal Police praised T3 FCU for its role in Operation Lusocoin, a money-laundering crackdown.
Despite these efforts, blockchain crime remains a challenge, with illicit crypto balances exceeding $75 billion, though unlawful transactions accounted for just 0.14% of all blockchain activity in 2024, far below traditional financial systems' 2-5% laundering rates.
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