Cryptocurrency Leaders Collaborate to Introduce ‘Beacon Network’ Mechanism for Halting Illicit Funds

Leading cryptocurrency exchanges and payment processors, such as Coinbase, Binance, PayPal, Robinhood, Stripe, and Kraken, have come together to establish Beacon Network, the inaugural real-time response system for crypto-related crime aimed at stopping illicit funds from exiting the blockchain.

This network facilitates immediate notifications when suspicious funds are detected on participating platforms, enabling exchanges to halt deposits prior to any withdrawals or off-ramping activities.

Industry Collaboration Addresses $47 Billion Annual Crime Challenge

TRM Labs unveiled the initiative on August 20, showcasing extensive collaboration among over 20 founding members, federal law enforcement entities, and security experts, including ZachXBT and Security Alliance.

The system responds to the pressing need for quicker detection, as criminals can transfer stolen funds through more than 10,000 transactions within a few months, as evidenced by the $1.5 billion Bybit hack earlier this year.

Data from TRM Labs indicates that since 2023, at least $47 billion in cryptocurrency has been directed to addresses associated with fraud, while 2025 has set a record for hacks, with over $2.3 billion stolen.

The network functions by having verified investigators identify criminal addresses, automatically spreading information across related wallets, and providing real-time alerts when flagged funds reach participating exchanges.

This launch occurs as crypto criminals have significantly intensified their activities, with Global Ledger reporting that hackers can now transfer funds in as little as four seconds post-attack, approximately 75 times quicker than the average response time of exchange alert systems.

Introducing Beacon Network: The first real-time crypto crime response network. Exchanges, issuers, and law enforcement can now trace funds instantly — and act before criminals cash out.
Learn more: https://t.co/ZtslbTyOfM#BeaconNetwork #TRMLabs pic.twitter.com/IX7MPRntF0

— TRM Labs (@trmlabs) August 20, 2025

Real-Time Detection Confronts Millisecond Criminal Activities

The necessity for Beacon Network arises from the alarming speed of contemporary crypto crime, where one in four hacks results in funds being thoroughly laundered before any public announcement is made.

Analysis by Global Ledger indicated that the quickest complete laundering process took merely 2 minutes and 57 seconds from the initial breach to the final deposit, outpacing typical laptop screen timeout durations.

In more than 68% of crypto attacks, hackers transfer funds before the incidents become publicly known, with only 4.2% of stolen assets ultimately recovered in the first half of 2025.

Source: Global Ledger

The average delay of 37 hours between fund movement and public disclosure creates a significant disadvantage for conventional response strategies.

Centralized exchanges have become the primary targets, accounting for over 54% of total losses during the first half of 2025, as attackers exploit them as high-value single points of failure.

Token contracts resulted in losses of $517.8 million, while personal wallets experienced 11.7% of total damages across the cryptocurrency landscape.

North Korea’s Lazarus Group has honed its timing tactics, coordinating fund movements to align with regular transaction activity around noon when organizations face staff transitions and decreased vigilance.

These advanced actors carry out attacks “meticulously planned down to every single swap and transfer,” taking advantage of operational gaps during lunch breaks and shift changes.

In July 2025 alone, crypto hack losses surged by 27.2% to $142 million, with seventeen significant security breaches, including the $44.2 million CoinDCX attack via compromised employee credentials and the $42 million GMX re-entrancy exploit.

International Law Enforcement Achieves Early Successes Through Blockchain Analysis

Earlier this year, Greece’s Hellenic Anti-Money Laundering Authority accomplished the nation’s first crypto asset seizure by tracing funds from the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, utilizing Chainalysis Reactor tools obtained in 2023.

Greece makes historic first crypto seizure after $1.5B Bybit hack using advanced @chainalysis tools to trace North Korea’s Lazarus Group complex laundering schemes.#BybitHack #Greecehttps://t.co/vXuJLlJl8I

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) July 9, 2025

This landmark operation established undeniable on-chain evidence connecting the seized assets to wallets utilized in the cyber heist attributed to North Korea.

The international response has produced mixed outcomes, with 32.78% of stolen Bybit funds remaining traceable nearly five months post-attack. However, 87.47% have since become untraceable, and only 5.24% have been successfully frozen.

Despite coordinated efforts involving 12 organizations and $2.2 million in bounty payments, the majority of stolen assets remain unrecovered.

Beacon Network addresses these coordination issues by allowing verified law enforcement agencies from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Australia, and South Korea to flag addresses in real-time.

The system automatically tracks flagged funds across blockchains and disseminates intelligence to connected services without the need for human intervention.

The network’s focus areas include disrupting North Korean IT workers and hack funds, intercepting ransomware payments, preventing terrorism financing, and recovering funds from romance scams and child exploitation.

Founding member exchanges have commended this innovation, particularly highlighting that it provides them with access to real-time intelligence.

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