In a significant blow to crypto criminals, the T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU)—a partnership between Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs—has frozen $9 million in USDT tied to the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, one of the largest crypto heists in history. The action, announced on March 26, 2025, underscores the growing efforts to safeguard the digital asset industry, with T3 FCU having blocked over $150 million in illicit funds in the past six months alone.
The Bybit breach, traced back to February 2025, was linked to the notorious North Korean Lazarus Group, spotlighting the persistent threat of state-sponsored cyberattacks in the crypto ecosystem.
The T3 FCU, established in August 2024, has quickly become a formidable force in combating financial crime on the blockchain. By leveraging advanced blockchain analytics, the unit identified and froze the $9 million in USDT, a stablecoin issued by Tether, which has often been a target for illicit activities due to its widespread use.
According to a 2024 report by TRM Labs, USDT was linked to $19.3 billion in illicit transactions in 2023, making it a prime focus for crime-fighting initiatives. The Bybit hack, which saw hackers exploit a Safe developer’s system to steal 401,000 ETH, was attributed to the Lazarus Group by blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, as reported by Decrypt on February 22, 2025 source.
“This operation demonstrates the power of collaboration in tackling crypto crime,” said Chris Marinelli, head of investigations at TRM Labs, in a statement. “By combining our expertise with Tron and Tether, we’re not only recovering stolen funds but also deterring future attacks.” The freeze was credited to on-chain sleuths ZachXBT and ZeroShadow, whose forensic analysis connected the stolen funds to wallets used in prior Lazarus Group exploits, including an $85 million hack of the Phemex exchange in 2024.
The Bybit incident has sent shockwaves through the crypto industry, raising questions about exchange security and the broader implications for investor confidence. North Korean hackers, responsible for $1.34 billion in crypto thefts in 2024 according to Chainalysis, have increasingly targeted centralized exchanges, exploiting vulnerabilities in their infrastructure.
Bybit, a Dubai-based exchange, has stated it can cover the losses and has launched a recovery bounty program, offering 10% of recovered funds to incentivize assistance. However, experts remain skeptical about the likelihood of full recovery, given the challenges of pursuing state-backed actors like the Lazarus Group, which operates with impunity under North Korea’s regime.
Industry reactions to the T3 FCU’s action have been mixed. Some stakeholders, including blockchain analyst Sarah Thompson, hailed the freeze as a “critical step toward a safer crypto ecosystem,” noting that such interventions could bolster trust among institutional investors. Others, however, expressed concern about the scale of the challenge. “Recovering $9 million is a win, but with over $1 billion still unaccounted for, the road ahead is daunting,” said Michael Chen, a cybersecurity expert at BlockSafe Solutions. The sentiment echoes broader industry data: TRM Labs reported a 17% increase in crypto hacks in 2024, with total losses reaching $2.2 billion.
The T3 FCU’s efforts build on a history of proactive measures by Tether and its partners. In 2023, the U.S. Justice Department seized $9 million in USDT linked to romance scams, a move Tether supported as part of its commitment to compliance.
Since its inception, T3 FCU has frozen over $12 million in illicit USDT on the Tron blockchain, as noted in a September 2024 announcement by Crypto Briefing source. These actions reflect a broader trend of collaboration between blockchain firms and law enforcement to curb the misuse of digital assets, which accounted for just 0.4% of all crypto transactions in 2024, down 51% from the previous year, per TRM Labs.
Looking ahead, the T3 FCU’s success could set a precedent for how the crypto industry addresses financial crime. With North Korean hackers and other bad actors evolving their tactics, the pressure is on for exchanges to bolster their defenses and for regulators to provide clearer frameworks. Bybit’s recovery efforts, coupled with T3 FCU’s ongoing investigations, will be closely watched as the industry seeks to balance innovation with security. For now, this $9 million freeze offers a glimmer of hope—but the fight against crypto crime is far from over.
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