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Tron, Tether, and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis launched the Digital Crime Task Force on Wednesday to identify illicit activity involving Tether’s USDT stablecoin on the Tron blockchain. The group aims to surface criminal networks for law enforcement before funds are moved, according to Decrypt.
More coverage is filed under Stablecoins.
Earlier reporting: TRON Integrates with Backpack Wallet for USDT TRC-20 Self-Custody.
As of 02:47 UTC, Tether traded at $0.9991, +0.0% over 24 hours, with $45.0 billion in 24-hour volume.
The initiative marks a shift from reactive to proactive enforcement. Rather than waiting for victims to report crimes or investigators to flag tainted funds, the task force will use Chainalysis’s intelligence and AI-powered investigative tools to trace criminal networks and coordinate asset freezes. The group will also accept tips and freeze requests directly from police.
Replacing the T3 Financial Crime Unit
The new alliance replaces the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a similar operation formed in 2024 by Tron and Tether with rival analytics firm TRM Labs. Binance later joined the T3 unit, which collectively froze more than $450 million in tainted assets.
Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the T3 unit was quietly disbanded in late August. People familiar with the group cited slow response times and a lack of coordination among its members as reasons for the collapse. The disbandment became public just days before the record $6.4 billion hack of Binance.
The decision to swap TRM Labs for Chainalysis is notable given the fierce competition between the two analytics firms. Chainalysis has sued the U.S. government over an ICE contract awarded to TRM without competitive bidding, a legal dispute that underscores the rivalry now playing out within crypto’s crime-fighting infrastructure.
Scale of Operations and Threats
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the company has frozen more than $7 billion tied to illicit activity while working with over 360 law enforcement agencies across 73 countries.
“Criminals are using AI to move faster than ever, and waiting for a victim to report a crime is no longer good enough,” Ardoino said.
Tron founder Justin Sun framed the effort as a measure to protect the millions of users who rely on USDT, which circulates on the Tron blockchain to the tune of more than $94 billion.
The task force says it will target a broad range of threats, including romance and investment scams, stolen funds, terrorist financing, North Korean cyber operations, cartel money laundering, and child-exploitation material. The group also framed the initiative around the emerging era of autonomous AI agents transacting onchain, warning that these technologies will open fresh avenues for criminal exploitation.
Source: Decrypt
