Stablecoin issuer Tether said it helped authorities freeze nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT during 2026, as a Senate Democrat called for an investigation into the stablecoin issuer on Monday.
In a statement on Monday, the company said it has been working closely with international law enforcement for years. This year alone, it froze more than $130 million in USDT across four wallets, and in April, it froze more than $344 million linked to the Central Bank of Iran.
"The record is public: the DOJ, FBI, Secret Service, HSI, OFAC and authorities around the world have repeatedly worked with Tether to trace, freeze and recover assets. We will continue to make that capability available to authorities working to stop terrorism, sanctions evasion, fraud and other serious crimes," Ardoino said.
Lol I just posted about the report from Sen. Blumenthal
I know. A little different perspective.
They should do same with the Bitget Hack
I saw Tether put this out right after all the press about how Tether was being used by Iran. I doubt that Tether cares very much whether they freeze any particular country's coins or not. As long as they don't freeze too high a percentage of the total supply, people will probably just keep on using it and figure it won't be their coins that get frozen.
Also, I'll be surprised if the US is able to put very much pressure on Tether. With bond yields going up, they may begin punching above their weight.