Tether Freezes Tokens of Sanctioned Individuals Listed by OFAC
Tether (USDT), the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin, has frozen the wallets of individuals sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC).
In a recent announcement , the company said it aims to prevent potential misuse of its tokens and enhance security measures by aligning with global law enforcement and regulators.
“This strategic decision aligns with our unwavering commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safety for our global ecosystem and expanding our close working relationship with global law enforcement and regulators” Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said.
“By executing voluntary wallet address freezing of new additions to the SDN List and freezing previously added addresses, we will be able to further strengthen the positive usage of stablecoin technology and promote a safer stablecoin ecosystem for all users.”
While Tether has previously frozen funds associated with illicit activities, the company had been hesitant to freeze wallets interacting with the sanctioned protocol, Tornado Cash.
Tether claimed that it had not received any requests from U.S. law enforcement to do so.
However, following the recent announcement, blockchain records indicate that Tether has blacklisted Tornado Cash’s contract addresses.
According to blockchain data, Tether froze a total of 161 Ethereum wallets, although 150 of these wallets currently hold no USDT tokens.
It remains unclear whether these wallets previously held USDT tokens or if they were ever involved in any related activities.
Among the remaining 11 wallets, over 3.5 million USDT tokens are held, with the majority concentrated in a single address holding 3.4 million tokens.
Notably, this address has been linked to a
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