Real-Time Crypto Crime Network Launched By Major Firms

A collective of crypto and conventional finance corporations, legislation enforcement and safety researchers has fashioned a brand new “crypto crime response community” referred to as the “Beacon Network” to determine and freeze illicit funds on the blockchain. 

TRM Labs on Wednesday said the Beacon Network creates “an unprecedented degree of business collaboration to dam off-ramps for prison funds.”

At the very least $47 billion has been despatched to fraud-related addresses since 2023, in accordance with new information from TRM Labs, although the quantity is more likely to be far greater. 

Beneath the Beacon Network, verified members can flag pockets addresses suspected of economic crime, hint the funds throughout the blockchain and share info with related providers and legislation enforcement.

When the flagged funds hit an exchange or different service taking part within the community, an alert is shipped mechanically to make sure the funds might be recognized, tracked and frozen earlier than they’re withdrawn or laundered.

Founding members of the cross-sector community embody crypto exchanges Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, buying and selling platform Robinhood, cost big PayPal, digital asset service firm Anchorage Digital, Ripple, and safety researchers, together with ZachXBT and the Safety Alliance (SEAL). 

“Main federal legislation enforcement businesses globally are actively contributing to the community, flagging addresses linked to important threats and triggering alerts that assist cease illicit actors earlier than they will money out,” mentioned TRM Labs. 

🚨 Introducing Beacon Network: The primary real-time crypto crime response community. Exchanges, issuers, and legislation enforcement can now hint funds immediately — and act earlier than criminals money out.

Be taught extra: https://t.co/ZtslbTyOfM#BeaconNetwork #TRMLabs pic.twitter.com/IX7MPRntF0

— TRM Labs (@trmlabs) August 20, 2025

Finish-to-end “kill chain” for illicit crypto transactions 

TRM Labs mentioned that stolen funds are sometimes moved earlier than legislation enforcement can intervene, which was the case following the $1.5 billion Bybit hack earlier this year, when the stolen funds moved via over 10,000 transactions within the first month. 

“Till now, legislation enforcement and cryptocurrency platforms have operated in silos, reacting solely after illicit funds have disappeared. The window for interdiction is commonly measured in minutes, not days. With Beacon Network, that modifications,” the agency mentioned.    

“Beacon Network is the primary end-to-end ‘kill chain’ for illicit crypto belongings, transferring from detection to motion in minutes slightly than days.” 

Beacon Network is already in use 

The Beacon Network is already in use, according to TRM Labs, and has registered a number of successes in serving to monitor down illicit funds stolen in cybersecurity incidents. 

In a single case, a legislation enforcement company was in a position to hint $1.5 million linked to an unidentified international rip-off. They used the Beacon Network to blacklist the deal with so the funds could possibly be frozen once they had been despatched to an alternate. 

In one other incident, a bunch of investigators managed to determine $800,000 in scam-related deposits at a significant alternate, which they then flagged to be frozen. 

Associated: Crypto crime unit with $250M in seizures expands with Binance

A key function of the community is that solely verified customers, which embody legislation enforcement businesses, vetted companions, and safety researchers the world over, can flag an deal with as illicit. 

TRM Labs replied to an X consumer on Wednesday who requested concerning the community being misused, that solely investigators who’ve been verified can flag funds, and provided that they “have excessive confidence in and intend to behave on” the knowledge. 

“Each flag carries important accountability, because it indicators to all the community that the funds needs to be taken significantly. Misuse or abuse of this technique won’t be tolerated.”

Major unhealthy actors can be focused 

The Beacon Network can be utilized to flag any illicit funds, however TRM Labs mentioned there are a number of key targets the group will zero in on, resembling addresses and transactions linked to teams of North Korean IT workers who’ve been scamming crypto corporations worldwide.