Crypto Crime Unit Freezes $250M—But Hackers Are Getting Faster
The T3 Financial Crime Unit, a collaboration between Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs, says it’s frozen over $250 million in illicit crypto since launching last September. That’s more than double the $100 million they’d reported by January. Not bad for less than a year’s work.
But here’s the catch: while they’re getting better at tracking dirty money, hackers are moving faster than ever.
The group just announced a new program, T3+, with Binance as its first member. The idea is to bring more exchanges and financial institutions into the fold, sharing data to crack down on fraud, money laundering, and even terrorism financing. Justin Sun, Tron’s founder, called it a way to “expand collaboration across the industry.”
Hackers Don’t Wait Around
The timing matters. A recent report from Swiss analytics firm Global Ledger found that over $3 billion in crypto was stolen in the first half of 2025 alone. What’s worse? Hackers are cleaning their tracks quicker than ever.
In the fastest cases, stolen funds were fully laundered in under three minutes. Nearly a third of the time, it took less than a day. By the time victims realized they’d been hacked, about 23% of the stolen crypto was already gone for good.
That speed leaves little room for recovery. Only 4.2% of stolen funds were clawed back this year. And once money hits centralized exchanges—where compliance teams have maybe 15 minutes to flag suspicious activity—it’s usually too late.
Some of these attacks are tied to state-backed groups, like North Korean hackers targeting crypto platforms. Earlier this week, a leak supposedly exposed their tactics, showing just how sophisticated these operations have become.
Who Gets to Freeze Funds?
T3 FCU’s work has undeniably stopped some major crimes. But not everyone’s comfortable with stablecoin issuers and exchanges having the power to freeze transactions.
Take Tether’s move last month—they froze $86,000 in stolen USDT. On one hand, it’s a win against theft. On the other, it raises old questions about centralization in a space that’s supposed to be decentralized.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, argues it’s necessary: “Bad actors have nowhere to hide,” he said. Maybe. But as hacks get faster and more complex, the debate over who controls the brakes isn’t going away.
For now, though, $250 million frozen is nothing to scoff at. Even if the thieves are still a step ahead.
