In an unfortunate coincidence, the T3 Financial Crime Unit, involving major crypto players Tether, Tron, TRM Labs, and Binance, had already shut down months before the $6.3 billion Binance hack.

Key Takeaways

  • Binance, Tether, Tron, and TRM Labs’ T3 Financial Crime Unit reportedly shut down in August due to internal coordination problems.
  • T3 claimed to have frozen more than $450 million in illicit USDT since its September 2024 launch.
  • CZ called for a crypto-wide security alliance after the $6.3 billion Binance hack, proposing coordinated security efforts and faster asset freezes.

The two-year-old unit, which claimed to have frozen $450 million in illicit crypto assets, was closed in late August, Bloomberg reported, citing undisclosed people familiar with the matter. According to the report, the project had struggled over the past year due to “slow response times and a lack of coordination among members.” Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs confirmed to Bloomberg that the unit had indeed closed, while Binance, which joined the initiative in 2025, declined to comment.

The T3 unit’s account on X, which had more than 1,400 followers, was also closed, while users continued to mention and tag it through late August.

New and Old Initiatives

Meanwhile, Tron hinted that its unspecified “new initiative will be coming soon,” while Tether said it would continue working with TRM Labs to fight crime. In 2025, the blockchain intelligence company launched its Beacon Network initiative, a real-time intelligence-sharing system aimed at intercepting illicit funds before criminals can withdraw them.

In May 2026, T3 said it had frozen more than $450 million in illicit tether (USDT) since launching in September 2024. It also claimed to have intercepted 43.9% more illicit proceeds in 2025 than in 2024, working with law enforcement across 23 jurisdictions.

When Binance joined the unit in September 2025, Nils Andersen-Röed, then global head of the Financial Intelligence Unit at Binance, said that joining the initiative reflected its “dedication to proactive collaboration with industry partners and law enforcement to combat illicit activity in real time.”

Call for Another Alliance

After the record hack on Oct. 29, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) also called for a crypto-wide security alliance. According to him, an alliance could identify common attack methods before they spread, share audit findings, exchange lessons from hacks, and coordinate faster asset freezes. Freezing illicit assets was also one of T3’s focuses.

After the Binance hack, Tether said it had frozen more than $1.5 billion in USDT stolen from the exchange.

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About the author

WRITTEN BYLinas KmieliauskasAuthor, manager

Linas Kmieliauskas is a veteran news media professional with over 25 years of experience.