TRON DAO, the decentralized organization behind the TRON blockchain, announced that the newly formed T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU) task force has already frozen over $12 million in USDT linked to illegal activities.

On Sept. 16, TRON DAO announced :

“While others were inactive, the T3 Financial Crime Unit, working alongside law enforcement agencies, had already frozen over $12 million in USDT on the TRON network linked to criminal activities.”

Although the organization didn't disclose specifics, they stressed that this proactive measure bolsters trust and advances the crypto industry by prioritizing security.

Last week, TRON DAO established a task force in collaboration with TRM Labs and stablecoin issuer Tether to combat financial crimes involving USDT, the largest stablecoin, on the blockchain. Data from Tether shows that nearly half of its $118 billion USDT supply is hosted on the TRON blockchain, with about 39% on Ethereum .

Circle faces scrutiny

This development comes as Circle faced criticism for its delayed response in blacklisting a wallet linked to the North Korea-backed Lazarus Group.

On September 14th, blockchain investigator ZachXBT accused Circle of placing profits ahead of the health of the crypto ecosystem. He highlighted that Circle took over four months longer than other prominent stablecoin issuers to blacklist funds linked to the Lazarus Group .

He further argued that the company enabled money laundering through its platform while presenting itself as a compliant and secure ecosystem.

ZachXBT commented :

“[Circle] has never blacklisted any accounts following a DeFi exploit or hack, even when there was ample time to do so, while they continue to benefit from the transactions.”

Circle’s USDC is the second largest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market, boasting a market capitalization of approximately $35 billion, according to CryptoSlate’s data.