Tron and Tether bring in Chainalysis after T3 crime unit folds
The group will focus on illicit USDT activity on Tron and help law enforcement investigate suspicious transfers and freeze funds faster.
Tron, Tether, and Chainalysis have formed a task force to combat illicit activities involving the USDT stablecoin on the Tron blockchain. The Digital Crime Task Force will leverage Chainalysis' data and AI tools to identify suspicious transfers and aid law enforcement in freezing funds quickly. The group will specifically target investment and romance scams, crypto theft, terrorist financing, North Korean cyber operations, and cartel money laundering.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino highlighted their ability to freeze over $7 billion in USDT, with 99.9% of the $1.07 billion received by casinos in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, being on the Tron network. TRM Labs reported that casinos linked to US-sanctioned networks received $687 million of this inflow. The task force's formation comes after the disbanding of the T3 Financial Crime Unit in late August, reportedly due to slow responses and poor coordination.
High-profile hacks, such as the $1.5 billion Bybit hack and the $6.3 billion Binance hack, have been linked to the use of USDT on Tron, with criminals converting stolen funds to USDT and then cashing out. North Korea has been attributed to both hacks.
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