Tron, Tether and Chainalysis have launched the Digital Crime Task Force (DCTF), a joint initiative to identify and disrupt illicit activity involving Tether's USDT on the Tron blockchain as artificial intelligence makes crypto-related crime faster and more profitable.
The task force will combine intelligence and coordinate with law enforcement to freeze stolen assets before criminals can move them. Chainalysis will provide blockchain analytics and AI-powered tracking tools, Tron will monitor transaction activity on its network, and Tether will use its authority to freeze assets in wallets linked to illegal activity.
Tron founder Justin Sun said, "Millions of people rely on USDT on Tron to support their families, keep their businesses running, and build a more secure future. As digital finance reaches more people, its ability to protect them must evolve along with it."
Chainalysis reported that AI-enabled scams were 4.5 times more profitable than conventional schemes in 2025, while impersonation scams rose more than 1,400% year over year. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said, "Criminals are using AI to move faster than ever, and waiting for a victim to report a crime is no longer good enough." Tether says it has frozen more than $7 billion linked to illicit activity and has worked with more than 360 law enforcement agencies across 73 countries.
The launch follows the collapse of the T3 Financial Crime Unit, an alliance formed by Tron, Tether and TRM Labs in 2024 that Bloomberg reported was disbanded over slow response times and weak coordination. The new group plans to target investment and romance scams, hacks, terrorist financing and North Korean cyberattacks.
Recent cases show the scale of the problem: after the Binance hack, in which about $6.36 billion was stolen across ten blockchains, the attacker moved about $242 million through Tron, and Tether froze roughly $378.7 million in USDT linked to the attack. After the Mercado Bitcoin hack, Chainalysis said it helped freeze nearly $10 million, including more than $9 million in USDT through Tether.
