The T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3FCU), a team formed in August 2024 by TRON, Tether, and TRM Labs, has successfully frozen $9 million in stolen cryptocurrency linked to a major hack of the Bybit exchange. This breach, which occurred in February 2025, resulted in a staggering $1.5 billion loss of Ethereum (ETH), with the hack suspected to be the work of Lazarus Group, a notorious North Korean hacking organization.
The hackers used sophisticated methods to move the stolen funds, complicating efforts to trace and recover the assets. However, T3FCU, in collaboration with global law enforcement, has been able to freeze a portion of the stolen funds, showcasing their effectiveness in handling crypto-related crimes.
Since its formation, the T3FCU has been actively engaged in freezing illicit funds, including $36 million from investment scams and $65 million tied to money laundering. Their efforts have extended to combating blackmail and illegal drug trafficking within the crypto space.
T3FCU shared its success on the social media platform X and announced that further details would be provided at the upcoming Digital Chamber blockchain summit on March 26, 2025. The unit credited well-known blockchain analysts ZachXBT and ZeroShadow for their instrumental role in the investigation.
Cryptocurrency-related crimes continue to surge, with hackers stealing $2.2 billion in 2024 alone, a 17% increase from the previous year. North Korean hackers were responsible for 35% of this theft, totaling $800 million.
In response to the Bybit hack, the exchange introduced a bounty program offering a 10% reward for information leading to the recovery of stolen funds. However, of the 5,012 bounty reports submitted, only 63 were deemed legitimate.
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