Tether’s T3 Crime Unit says it has frozen $450M in suspected illicit crypto

The T3 Financial Crime Unit, a joint initiative backed by Tether, Tron and blockchain analytics company TRM Labs, says it has helped freeze more than $450 million in assets linked to suspected criminal activity since its launch in 2024.

The group said in a Thursday release shared with Cointelegraph that it has worked with law enforcement agencies across 23 jurisdictions to target funds tied to alleged drug trafficking, exchange hacks, North Korea-linked activity, terrorist financing and violent “wrench” attacks, including kidnappings and extortion.

The unit focuses on Tether’s USDT stablecoin activity on the Tron blockchain and says it has been able to freeze assets within 24 hours in multiple emergency cases at the request of authorities. T3 FCU said it intercepted 43.9% more illicit proceeds in 2025 than in the previous year.

The announcement comes as TRM Labs estimates that overall illicit crypto flows reached a record $158 billion in 2025, according to the release, highlighting the growing pressure on stablecoin issuers and blockchain networks to strengthen compliance and cooperate more closely with law enforcement.

The T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU). Source: Tether

The group was cited earlier this year by the Financial Action Task Force as an “invaluable resource” for law enforcement and highlighted in FATF reporting on public-private partnership models.

Related: Europe sees ‘hyperconcentration’ of crypto wrench attacks as losses hit $101M

T3 figures follow broader USDT freeze activity

The new figures also follow separate onchain data from security firm BlockSec on Friday, showing that more than $500 million in USDT had been frozen over a recent 30-day period.

Cointelegraph reached out to Tether to ask how the $450 million in assets linked to T3 FCU’s work intersect with Tether’s broader blacklisting and freezing activity across chains, and how much of the total relates specifically to Tron-based USDT, but had not received a response by publication.

The company was also asked how it balances an expanding compliance and asset-freezing toolkit with criticism from parts of the crypto industry that such powers increase centralization risk and may undermine the permissionless nature of stablecoin transfers on networks like Tron.

Tron, which positions itself as a low-cost settlement layer for stablecoins, told Cointelegraph it is an “agnostic technology provider” that cannot directly monitor every user or block every transaction, and that the means to identify and stop illicit activity sit with partners such as Tether, TRM Labs and law enforcement.

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