T3 unit led by Tether, TRON freezes $450M in crypto

The T3 Financial Crime Unit, a partnership of Tether, TRON and TRM Labs, has frozen more than $450 million in illicit cryptocurrency since launching in September 2024. The unit reported a 43.9% increase in intercepted illicit proceeds in 2025 compared with the prior year.

T3 has expanded cooperation with police forces in 23 jurisdictions, including the United States, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Brazil and the United Kingdom. The unit reported it has analyzed millions of transactions across five continents to trace funds linked to exchange hacks, state-linked transfers, terrorist financing, money laundering and violent crime.

The Financial Action Task Force has cited T3 and TRM’s Beacon Network as leading public-private models for digital asset enforcement.

T3 supported a Spanish investigation that recovered about $26.4 million tied to a Madrid-based laundering ring. In Brazil, the unit assisted the Federal Police’s Operation Lusocoin, which froze more than R$3 billion in cryptocurrency, including 4.3 million USDT tied to a criminal network.

The unit reported it froze funds within 24 hours during several account takeovers and violent-crime emergencies, and it said it can lock targeted wallets within hours of a verified law enforcement request.

T3 highlighted so-called wrench attacks-home invasions, kidnappings and violent extortion aimed at cryptocurrency holders-as an area of growing concern and reported that fast response and real-time tracking are central when police report physical threats to users.

TRM Labs estimated illicit crypto flows reached a record $158 billion. T3 reported it has identified activity connected to criminal networks and state-linked actors as it expanded operations since September 2024.

Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, called the $450 million figure ‘just the beginning’ and wrote that the unit’s impact would grow in scale and importance.