Now, what we bring you today is a rare pairing indeed: crypto assets and the police.
Crypto assets and the police. If you put these two side by side, most people will think of the old image of “the pursuer and the pursued,” a chase between the catcher and the thief. But wait—at the end of September 2026, a discussion held in Vienna quietly overwrote that outdated picture, without a sound.
The dates were September 29 to 30, and the venue was the Complexity Science Hub research site in Vienna. This is the 5th Interpol New Technologies Forum (NTF) opened here. When it comes to the lineup of the organizers, it’s co-hosted by Interpol, the German State of Bavaria’s Ministry of Justice, and the Complexity Science Hub. Gathered here are experts across law enforcement agencies, international organizations, academia, and the tech industry. The banner they raised was: “Next-generation investigations—decoding emerging technologies.” That’s the gist of it.
Now, what we want you to pay attention to here is this venue. Interpol, a large organization that brings together 196 member countries, first came into being in 1923—right here in Vienna. About a hundred years later, in the same city, the theme for “investigations for the next century” was, as you might guess, blockchain. Isn’t there something fated about it?
On the 30th day after the opening, the panel’s topic was “Future Uses of Distributed Ledger Technology and Its Impact on Law Enforcement.” Stepping up to the podium was none other than John Hearston, U.S. General Counsel of TRON!
At the ready are such distinguished figures as Daniel Leon from Europol, and Dr. Vladimir Vessely from Brno University of Technology. And as the presiding officer—no, as the moderator—was Dr. Tom Barbeleo of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).
The issues discussed at this round table can be organized into three.
One: Over the next five years, how will crypto-asset technologies evolve, and what will that bring to investigations?
Two: How can a “transparent public chain,” which anyone can observe, support compliance and investigations?
Three: How can we reconcile transparency and privacy—these two goals?
Now, this is the part you’ll want to hear. What Hearston highlighted above all as a concrete measure was “quantum resilience.”
Today’s electronic signatures on blockchain could be broken by future quantum computers. So how did TRON respond? In April, Justin Sun formally announced its quantum-resistance efforts, and on the testnet “Nile” it carried out end-to-end support for quantum-resistant signatures. By the end of June, it incorporated two approaches based on standards for quantum-resistant cryptography from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). And in July, it had pushed things far enough that developers could try them in practice. The stage for the real-world deployment is still ahead…
Ladies and gentlemen, it would be too late for regrets if, after a thief gets in, you only change the safe’s keys. That’s what quantum security is—locking the door in preparation for a thief who hasn’t even appeared yet. And that’s what it means to be cautious beyond caution.
Hearston’s case is refreshingly crisp: technology and regulation evolve side by side. The more institutional money flows into public chains, the more security and compliance also must expand at the same pace. The round table discussions eventually broadened into “what can engineers and investigators build together in the next five years?” And with that, they concluded by reaffirming their firm commitment to continued collaboration.
Now, where does the crux of this matter lie? This is not just a showcase of technology.
“Creating a common language”—that is what it is about.
So why was TRON invited to sit in that seat? The key to unraveling it is these three commandments: “Don’t let it get dirty,” “Don’t let it break,” and “Don’t let it stay closed.”
First, the first commandment: “Don’t let it get dirty.”
According to TRM Labs’ research, last year’s flow of illicit crypto assets reached an all-time high of $158 billion. The threat is unquestionably real. Still, labeling it as “blockchains—nothing but a den of evil” is a misguided assessment.
Cash leaves no trail. A public chain leaves an indelible trace. What matters is whether there is someone with the ability to follow that trace and stop it. TRON has honed this quality into real-world preventive power with results.
Partnering with Tether and TRM Labs, they launched in September 2024: the “T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU).” If I were to describe how it works,
Froze amounts total more than $450 million as of May 2026!
In 2025, the illicit funds that were enjoined amounted to a 43.9% increase year over year!
The place where hands are joined extends across the five continents and into 23 jurisdictions,
If investigators ask for it, swing down the sword of freezing within 24 hours!
And the way they carry it out is so impressive that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) took notice—enough to feature this effort as a model of public-private collaboration. Truly remarkable.
Next comes the second commandment: “Don’t let it break.”
USDT flowing over TRON exceeds $9.4 billion, cumulative transfer volume has topped $30 trillion, and user accounts have surpassed 406 million. At this point, it is no longer something as simple as “just one service.” It is social infrastructure on par with water and electricity. What does it mean to be responsible for infrastructure? In a word: ensuring it doesn’t break even a decade from now. This proactive preparation for quantum resilience is nothing less than behavior that protects the assets of future users, right now.
And third, the third commandment: “Don’t let it stay closed.”
For a long time, distributed technologies have been spoken of as things that “run and hide from the authorities’ eyes.” But TRON goes the other way. It shows up on discussion stages for law enforcement agencies and academia, and it never looks away—even from the difficult challenge of transparency and privacy. A technology that refuses dialogue cannot take root in the world no matter how excellent it is. Keeping the doors open—on its own—that is a public good that raises credibility across the entire industry.
Sit down, exchange words, and establish proof with track record. Only beyond that steady accumulation does there come a tomorrow when technology takes root in the world.
What was shown in Vienna was the fact that a blockchain can become not an “obstacle” to investigations, but a “witness” that keeps recording the truth. And right now, TRON is firmly taking its seat as that witness.
TRON DAO, taking a seat as a witness in Vienna. It’s about time now. That’s all for today. The rest continues with the next lecture.