Tron, Tether and TRM Crime-Fighting Alliance T3 Disbands as Cooperation Frays Amid Surge in Hacks

The T3 Financial Crime Unit, a crypto crime-fighting alliance formed by Tron, Tether and TRM Labs, has disbanded. The shutdown comes as major hacks and illicit fund flows are rising, with slow responses and weak coordination among members hampering the group’s work, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg reported on November 4 that T3 ended operations in late August. Over the past year, slow responses and insufficient coordination had become obstacles to the group’s operations, the report said. T3 was launched in September 2024, and Binance joined the alliance last year. At the time, the group said it had worked with law enforcement agencies to freeze $250 million in illicit assets worldwide.

Tron confirmed the end of the initiative and signaled it would introduce a separate response framework. A spokesperson for Tron DAO said the T3 program had ended, but efforts to work with law enforcement to curb illicit activity on the blockchain would continue. A new plan will be announced soon, the spokesperson added.

Tether and TRM Labs plan to continue working together through Beacon Network, a real-time information-sharing system. A Tether spokesperson said the company would keep cooperating with TRM to block illicit funds. Ari Redbord, TRM’s global head of policy and government affairs, said T3 had delivered strong results and that Beacon Network would carry that work forward. Binance declined to comment.

News of the alliance’s breakup comes as attacks targeting exchanges and hardware wallets continue. Last week, $6.3 billion worth of crypto assets was stolen from Binance. The Federal Bureau of Investigation assessed that the attackers were linked to North Korea. Tether froze about $1.5 billion in USDT shortly after the incident, and funds blocked across the industry amount to roughly half of the stolen assets.

More than $3 billion in assets that have not been frozen remain exposed to money-laundering risks. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said in a statement this week that most of the laundering tied to the incident has so far moved through Tron. Tron did not immediately respond to a request for comment on those fund flows.

According to Chainalysis, at least $154 billion in crypto flowed to illicit addresses last year, up 162% from a year earlier. Assets received by sanctioned entities surged 694%, driving the overall increase.