Crypto Crime

Tether says it has frozen roughly $4.2 billion of USDT tied to illicit activity, with most actions occurring in the past three years as authorities step up enforcement. The disclosures follow heightened global efforts to curb crypto-enabled crime.

TRM Labs raised $70 million in a financing round backed by Goldman Sachs, pushing its valuation above $1 billion and earning it unicorn status. The firm's multi-blockchain transaction-tracing software is seeing growing demand from law enforcement and financial institutions amid rising crypto crime.

$6.2 million stolen in the SagaEVM exploit has been traced to deposits into Tornado Cash, a privacy mixer on Ethereum used to obscure transaction histories. The move is likely to hamper recovery efforts and highlights persistent laundering routes.

Indian police arrested nine members of a syndicate on Dec. 14, 2025 for illegally trading bank accounts that were used to carry out multiple cyber fraud schemes. Authorities say the accounts facilitated fraud and helped move illicit proceeds.

Russian authorities detained four Surgut residents on Dec 11, 2025, charged with laundering 100 million rubles using cryptocurrency and stolen bank cards.

Thai Royal Police and the U.S. Secret Service, with assistance from Tether, seized $12 million in USDT linked to a Southeast Asian scam network; authorities arrested 73 people and recovered $15.67 million in assets.

Tether says it assisted law enforcement in freezing about $12 million in crypto tied to a transnational scam, leading to the arrest of 73 suspects. The company highlighted coordination across jurisdictions and the involvement of USDT transactions.