**Crypto Crime Unit with $250M in Seizures Expands with Binance**
The T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU), a public-private initiative launched in September 2024, has made significant strides in its mission to track and disrupt illicit blockchain transactions. With the addition of Binance as its first T3+ partner, this joint financial crime unit has frozen over $250 million in illicit crypto assets since its inception.
Launched with an ambitious goal to combat the growing threat of cryptocurrency hacks, T3 FCU was designed to work closely with law enforcement agencies worldwide on cases involving money laundering, investment fraud, blackmail operations, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes. The unit's early success has been notable, with over $100 million in illicit assets intercepted since its August 2024 debut.
However, the landscape of cryptocurrency hacks is rapidly evolving. A recent report from Global Ledger, a Swiss blockchain analytics company, revealed that over $3 billion in crypto was stolen in the first half of 2025, with hackers moving funds at an alarming rate. According to the report, the fastest hacks saw the laundering of funds completed in under three minutes, and over 30% of laundering was completed within 24 hours.
The average time it took to move funds was around 15 hours after a breach, and in about 23% of cases, stolen crypto was fully laundered before the hack had even been disclosed. The speed at which hackers can move funds has resulted in only 4.2% of stolen funds being recovered in the first half of the year.
The study also found that in the first half of 2025, roughly 15% of illicit crypto flowed through centralized exchanges, where compliance teams typically have only 10 to 15 minutes to intercept suspicious transfers before the assets disappear. Many attacks have been linked to state-sponsored hacking groups, cybercrime syndicates, and foreign-based fraud networks operating across jurisdictions, making recovery and enforcement more difficult.
One recent example came earlier this week, when hackers claimed to have breached a major North Korean cyber-espionage operation. The leak allegedly revealed tactics used by the regime to target cryptocurrency platforms worldwide, underscoring how nation-state actors are evolving their methods alongside the broader surge in crypto crimes.
Despite its success, not everyone supports the idea of stablecoin issuers and centralized exchanges freezing funds. Last month, Tether froze nearly $86,000 in stolen USDt, prompting renewed debate over centralized control in stablecoin ecosystems. Because issuers can halt transactions at the smart contract level, they have a rare ability in crypto to intercept stolen funds.
However, this power also threatens user sovereignty and the decentralized principles the industry was built on. CEO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino, argued that "bad actors have nowhere to hide on the blockchain...and that it's only through collective effort that we can build a safer, more trusted environment for users worldwide."
The newly unveiled T3+ program builds on the existing framework by enlisting exchanges, financial institutions, and other industry players around the globe to share intelligence and respond to threats in real time. According to Justin Sun, founder of Tron, this expansion will "expand the scope of collaboration across the blockchain industry to better address illicit activity in real time."
The partnership with Binance marks a significant milestone for T3 FCU as it continues to push the boundaries of public-private cooperation to combat cryptocurrency crime. As the landscape of crypto hacks evolves, it remains to be seen how effective this joint unit will be in stopping these attacks and bringing perpetrators to justice.