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Tether, TRON, TRM Labs Freeze $450 Million Amid Widening Criminal Crackdown on T3

The T3 Financial Crime Unit, a joint operation by Tether, TRON, and TRM Labs, has frozen more than $450 million in illegal crypto assets since it launched in September 2024, with a 43.9% increase in illegally seized proceeds in 2025 compared with the previous year.

This May update shows expanding cooperation with law enforcement in the United States, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Bulgaria. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) also cites this unit as a leading model of public-private collaboration in law enforcement involving digital assets.

## T3 Expands Its Reach Across 23 Jurisdictions

The unit operates in 23 jurisdictions, including the United States, Spain, Germany, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. Since its debut in September 2024, it has analyzed millions of transactions across five continents to identify cases of exchange hacking, exploitation, activities suspected to be linked to North Korea, terrorism financing, money laundering, and violent crimes.

Previous T3 actions include enforcement in Spain that successfully recovered approximately $26.4 million related to a Madrid-based money laundering network.

Response speed is a top priority. T3 claims it has managed to freeze funds in less than 24 hours in many account takeover cases and violent crime emergencies.

The unit also supports Operation Lusocoin, an investigation by the Brazilian Federal Police, which froze more than R$3 billion in crypto assets, including 4.3 million USDT, Tether’s flagship stablecoin, linked to that criminal network.

## Wrench Attack and North Korea Funds Draw Spotlight

This year’s cases include drug trafficking, terrorism financing, and what T3 calls wrench attacks—an umbrella term for home robberies, kidnappings, and violent extortion targeting crypto asset holders.

The unit says it can lock a target wallet within hours after receiving a verified official request from law enforcement. BeInCrypto has also reported separately that physical attacks on digital asset users could sharply increase in 2026.

Recognition came earlier this year when FATF designated T3, together with TRM’s Beacon Network, as a prime example of a digital asset crime prevention framework.

TRM Labs estimates that illicit crypto fund flows have reached a record $158 billion, making real-time monitoring and freezing of funds especially important for law enforcement.

“This $450 million achievement is only the beginning of what T3 can do, because its impact will continue to grow and expand further into the future,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, in a statement.