Tether, TRON and TRM Labs-backed T3 Financial Crime Unit tops $450 million in frozen illicit crypto assets

Tether, TRON, and TRM Labs’ T3 Financial Crime Unit said it has now frozen more than $450 million in illicit crypto assets globally since launching in 2024.

The unit said it intercepted 43.9% more illicit proceeds in 2025 compared with the previous year, working with law enforcement agencies across 23 jurisdictions, including the United States, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Bulgaria, according to a statement shared with The Block on Thursday. It said it has identified suspicious transactions and executed asset freezes within 24 hours of requests from global authorities during multiple account takeover incidents and violent crime emergencies.

The Financial Action Task Force earlier this year designated T3 FCU an “invaluable resource for law enforcement agencies worldwide,” per the statement.

"We take pride in working with regulators and institutions to make blockchain technology more reliable and trustworthy," Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said. "This $450 million milestone is just the beginning of what T3 is capable of, as its impact will only continue to grow in scale and importance."

According to the statement, T3 FCU has supported investigations into exchange hacks, DPRK-linked activity, terrorist financing, and wrench attacks, including home invasions, kidnappings, and extortion. 

The unit also aided Operation Lusocoin, a Brazilian Federal Police investigation that froze more than 3 billion reals ($598.9 million) in assets, including 4.3 million USDT tied to a criminal network.

The news comes as illicit actors captured approximately 2.7% of available crypto liquidity in 2025, according to data from TRM Labs. While this figure is down from 2.9% in 2024, TRM Labs reported that total illicit crypto volume reached a record $158 billion last year, an increase of nearly 145% from the prior period.