The T3 Financial Crime Unit, created in collaboration with the Tron blockchain, stablecoin issuer Tether and blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs, announced that it has frozen a total of 100 million USDT used by illegal actors since September.
Analyzes Made and Transactions Followed
The T3 Unit analyzed millions of transactions spanning five continents, tracking a total volume of over $3 billion on USDT, the largest stablecoin. In a statement, T3 stated that TRM Labs helped Tron and Tether detect and freeze USDTs linked to illegal activities using blockchain intelligence and monitoring tools.
Sources of Frozen Funds
Chris Janczewski, global head of investigations at TRM Labs, said money laundering services are the largest source of frozen funds, as well as being targeted for investment scams, illegal drugs, terrorism financing, blackmail scams, hacking attacks, exploits and even violent crimes.
Effective Measures Against Money Laundering in Blockchain
“Blockchain is a bad environment for money laundering due to its transparent nature. We can verify victim reports on the public blockchain and even identify other victims, a level of insight not possible with traditional finance,” Janczewski said.
T3 stated that approximately 3 million of the frozen USDT was linked to North Korea and that the country was trying to infiltrate crypto projects to finance its leadership regime. The U.S. Treasury Department announced in December that it had shut down a North Korean money laundering network.
“We hope that thanks to our efforts, not only will victims get their funds back, but malicious actors will think twice before committing illegal activities on blockchains like Tron,” Janczewski said.
The collaboration is seen as an important step towards reducing illegal activities on the blockchain. The joint work of Tron, Tether and TRM Labs can also serve as an example for other blockchain projects.
The size of the frozen USDT amount and the scope of the analysis show how effective blockchain technology can be in terms of security and transparency.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that crypto currencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should carry out their transactions in line with their own research.
