Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs Team Up to Fight Crypto Crime on Tron Blockchain

It’s been a big 2024 for Tron, having surged up the DeFi rankings to become one of the top blockchain ecosystems. A lot of this movement has come on the back of Sun Pump, a meme coin-centric launch platform that lets you mint and trade tokens with tiny transaction fees. The renewed attention has seen Tron’s native token, TRX, jump 100% over the past 12 months. 

Related: Kraken Calls for Clear Crypto Rules in Australia After ASIC Ruling

T3 Financial Crime Unit Set to Focus on Tron-based Scams Involving USDT

Unfortunately, the spike in activity hasn’t all been good news. A 2023 TRM Labs report found that nearly half (45%) of all crypto criminal activity occurs within Tron’s ecosystem.

Not to be discouraged, the blockchain’s founder, Justin Sun, has teamed up with TRM Labs and Tether – developers of the world’s largest stablecoin – to put the clamps on those using Tron for illegal purposes.

The taskforce, to be called the T3 Financial Crime Unit, is set to police malicious behaviour on the Tron network. Specifically, Tether, TRM Labs and Tron will come together to prevent the use of Tether (USDT) linked to botting, investment fraud and more.

As it stands, Tron’s ecosystem boasts the highest rate of USDT issuance (60.7b USDT), coming ahead of Web3 superpowers like Ethereum (53.9b USDT) and Solana (712m USDT).

Tackling Crime is Key to Growth of Stablecoins Across the Web3 World

Part of Tron’s supremacy in the USDT sweepstakes is due to Tether’s primary competitor, USD Coin (USDC), being banned from use on the DeFi network as part of its risk management policy.

Sun took to social media to announce the new taskforce, outlining the group’s mission:

It’s a first-of-its-kind collaboration between @trondao, @Tehter_to, and @trmlabs to combat illicit activity on our network. Our goal is to create a safer, more secure crypto community, setting a new standard for the industry.

Justin Sun

Chris Janczewski, TRM’s lead in global investigations, followed up by emphasising the company’s commitment to tackling crime.

As adoption of stablecoins continues to rise, it’s critical that key industry players proactively evolve their capabilities to combat illicit activity and ensure a safe and secure environment.

Chris Janczewski, TRM Head of Global Investigations

Crypto still ranks lowly compared to traditional investment scams, however, removing as much illegal behaviour as possible will only help improve the sector’s legitimacy in the eyes of the public and perhaps more importantly, government regulators.