Binance: Crypto Crime Seizures 55x Higher Than Fiat in 2025

• Law enforcement and Tether-led teams seize record share of illicit crypto funds.
• Binance’s reporting faces scrutiny from analytics firms and regulators.

On May 16, 2026 (UTC), Cryptopolitan reported that law enforcement and private partners seized 11% of illicit crypto assets in 2025—a rate 55 times higher than in traditional finance, according to Binance Research.

The T3 Financial Crime Unit, launched in September 2024 by Tether, TRON, and TRM Labs, froze more than $450 million in USDT connected to serious criminal operations. Binance Research noted a 43.9% increase in seized funds year-over-year, citing money laundering, North Korea-linked cybercrime, drug trafficking, and kidnapping cases.

However, several blockchain analytics firms challenged Binance’s reporting methods and transparency. Chainalysis stated it neither conducted nor endorsed the analysis that Binance referenced and highlighted the omission of major categories such as hacking and ransomware. TRM Labs added that its data covered only select crime types and clarified that Binance’s comparative analysis did not originate from its research.

Binance acknowledged these omissions and explained that criminal exposure estimates and seizure reporting differ across data providers. The company remains under close scrutiny during its three-year compliance monitorship following a $4.3 billion U.S. settlement for anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations in November 2023. Regulatory pressure persists, with U.S. Treasury authorities requesting Binance’s monitorship records after reports of over $1 billion in cryptocurrency flowing to Iran-linked entities.