Tron, Tether and Chainalysis form task force to track crypto crime

The Digital Crime Task Force will share intelligence with law enforcement and focus on speeding up the response from detection to action. Chainalysis provides tracking and investigation tools; Tron is the network used for many USDT transactions; and Tether, the stablecoin’s issuer, can freeze tokens at identified addresses. The companies said the work will cover investment scams, romance fraud, exchange hacks, terrorist financing and cryptocurrency thefts attributed to North Korean hackers. They have not announced any freezes or enforcement cases completed by the new unit.

Tron founder Justin Sun said the effort was intended to protect people using USDT for payments and other financial activity. “Millions of people rely on USDT on Tron to support their families,” he said.

The partnership follows the end of T3, a previous initiative involving Tron, Tether and TRM Labs. Founded in September 2024, the T3 Financial Crime Unit said in May it had frozen more than $450 million in illicit assets while working with authorities in 23 jurisdictions. Bloomberg reported on November 4 that the partnership had been dissolved after problems with response times and coordination. People familiar with the arrangement told the outlet it ended in late August; Tron later confirmed the program had concluded. Tether said it would continue working with TRM Labs through other initiatives, including the Beacon Network. Chainalysis replaces TRM Labs in the new three-company arrangement. Tether and Chainalysis had already announced a service in May 2024 to monitor potentially suspicious USDT transactions.

Chainalysis estimated in its 2026 Crypto Crime Report that AI-enabled scams generated 4.5 times more revenue per operation in 2025 than scams with no identified links to AI vendors: about $3.2 million per operation, compared with $719,000. It also estimated that impersonation scam inflows rose by more than 1,400% year over year. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said AI-assisted attacks require faster responses. He said Tether had frozen more than $7 billion linked to illicit activity while working with over 360 law enforcement agencies in 73 countries. In a November 2 statement, the company said about $1.2 billion of frozen funds tied to fraud and theft had been returned to owners or law enforcement through token reissuance.