Tron and Tether launch a new anti-laundering group for USDT with Chainalysis to replace the defunct T3

Key points:

• Tron, Tether and Chainalysis have created the Digital Crime Task Force to fight illicit USDT activity on the Tron blockchain.
• The previous alliance, the T3 Financial Crime Unit, formed with TRM Labs in 2024, fell apart in late August.
• USDT on Tron remains the main laundering tool: it was used to move funds after the Bybit and Binance hacks.

On November 12, Tron, Tether and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis announced the Digital Crime Task Force. The group will tackle illicit activity involving the USDT stablecoin on the Tron network.

How the Digital Crime Task Force will work

Chainalysis will provide the group with data and AI tools. Members will use them to flag suspicious activity and pass leads to law enforcement so funds can be traced and frozen. The group also accepts freeze requests directly from law enforcement agencies. The main idea is to find the money before criminals can move it, rather than investigate a crime after the fact.

• Investment scams and romance scams.
• Crypto theft.
• Terrorist financing.
• North Korean cyber operations.
• Drug trafficking and cartel money laundering.

[ЦИТАТА]

Criminals are using AI to move faster than ever, and waiting for a victim to report a crime is no longer good enough, – said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.

According to him, Tether has already frozen more than $7 billion linked to illicit activity. The company works with more than 360 law enforcement agencies in 73 countries. Chainalysis, for its part, estimated that AI-enabled scams were 4.5 times more profitable than conventional schemes in 2025.

Why the Tron and Tether T3 Financial Crime Unit alliance fell apart

The new group replaces the T3 Financial Crime Unit. Tron and Tether launched that alliance with TRM Labs in September 2024, and Binance joined a year later. On November 4, Bloomberg reported that T3 had been quietly disbanded in late August. According to the outlet’s source, slow responses and poor coordination among members hampered its work.

No one announced the shutdown publicly. Tron DAO called the program “very successful” and promised a new initiative soon. Tether said it would keep working with TRM Labs through its Beacon Network.

Why criminals launder money through USDT on the Tron network

From January 1 to September 7, 34 casinos in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, received $1.07 billion in crypto. USDT on Tron accounted for 99.9% of that amount. The city is known as a hub for scam compounds, and casinos tied to US-sanctioned networks received $687M. TRM Labs attributed the popularity of USDT on Tron to low fees and deep liquidity.

Hackers use the same route. After the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025, the stolen funds were converted to USDT on Tron and cashed out through Chinese OTC services.

During the record $6.3 billion Binance hack on October 29, hackers swapped about $234M in USDT for TRX. Only after that did Tether freeze the remaining USDT in two wallets linked to the theft.

The FBI attributed both hacks to North Korea. Pyongyang denies involvement in the Binance attack.