From bitcoin news by Sergio Goschenko

TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence and forensics firm, has stated that Tron, a smart-contracts-enabled blockchain, achieved a significant milestone against illicit activity in 2024.

In a recent blog post, TRM Labs disclosed that Tron was the blockchain that reduced its illicit activity volumes the most during last year. The company reported that illicit volumes dropped by $6 billion, nearly halving the numbers registered in 2023.

However, even with this reduction, most illicit activity still happens on top of Tron, which registers 58% of all the volumes linked to unlawful actions. Tron is followed by Ethereum with 24%, Bitcoin (12%), Binance Smart Chain (3%), and Polygon (3%). TRM Labs assessed that criminals prefer chains with low fees, smart contracts, and popular stablecoins.

This reduction has been achieved partly thanks to the T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU), an initiative launched jointly by Tether, Tron, and TRM Labs to combat illicit activity linked to the usage of USDT on top of Tron.

The unit recently reported freezing over $130 million USDT since its launch and remarked it was actively working with law enforcement agencies to identify and dismantle criminal networks.

Justin Sun, founder of Tron, highlighted the relevance of this reduction and the unit’s action. He stated:

The numbers speak for themselves. Already seeing huge success for T3 FCU… and this is just the start. Looking forward to what we achieve together in 2025.

Tron’s illicit activity decreases following a general illicit crypto volume reduction. TRM Labs data reveals that, while crypto transaction volumes skyrocketed to over $10.65 trillion, illicit activity dropped to $45 billion, 0.4% of all crypto volumes. This represents a 51% decrease compared to 2023 when illegal volumes reached 0.86% of all crypto transactions.