Tron, Tether and Chainalysis Form a New Crypto-Crime Task Force—Replacing One That Just Collapsed

The initiative represents a shift from a reactive to a proactive approach, aiming to identify illicit activity involving Tether’s USDT on the Tron blockchain and surface it for law enforcement before criminals can move their funds.

The group will proactively trace criminal networks and coordinate asset freezes, drawing on Chainalysis’s intelligence and AI-powered investigative tools, and will also accept tips and freeze requests from police.

Tether’s CEO noted the company has frozen more than $7 billion tied to illicit activity while working with over 360 law enforcement agencies across 73 countries.

Tron founder Justin Sun framed the effort as protecting the millions who rely on USDT, which circulates on Tron to the tune of more than $94 billion.

Replacing a Collapsed Alliance

The new task force replaces the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a near-identical effort that Tron and Tether ran with rival analytics firm TRM Labs and later joined by Binance.

Together, the T3 unit froze more than $450 million in tainted assets, but Bloomberg reported it was quietly disbanded in late August over slow response times and a lack of coordination among its members.

Its collapse went public just days before the record $6.4 billion Binance hack, highlighting the challenges of such collaborative efforts.

Swapping TRM for Chainalysis is a pointed move, given the two are fierce competitors. Chainalysis has even sued the U.S. government over an ICE contract awarded to TRM without competitive bidding.

Broad Threats and Future Risks

The new group says it will target a broad sweep of threats, from romance and investment scams to stolen funds, terrorist financing, North Korean cyber operations, cartel money laundering, and child-exploitation material.

It also framed the effort around a coming era of autonomous AI agents transacting on-chain, which it warned will open fresh avenues for criminal exploitation.