$140 Million USDT Frozen by Tether: What Happened?

As a seasoned crypto investor with a keen interest in stablecoins and compliance, I closely follow news related to major players in this space. Today, I was alarmed to read about Tether freezing over $140 million USDT across three addresses as reported by Whale Alert.


According to Whale Alert’s latest report, major stablecoin issuer Tether has halted access to a total of $140 million worth of USDT from three different accounts. The reasons for this action taken by Tether remain undisclosed at this time.

In May, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stressed the company’s dedication to preventing money laundering and violations of financial sanctions. Tether has hired a skilled team for transaction analysis and partners with Chainalysis to identify wallets that may be involved in illicit activities or attempts to bypass sanctions.

Our dedication goes beyond just cooperating with law enforcement; we actively work with them. Tether has partnered with over 124 agencies in more than 40 countries, leading to the freezing of wallets holding over $1.3 billion in total.

❄ ❄ ❄ An address with a balance of 50,010,211 #USDT (50,066,097 USD) has just been frozen!

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 15, 2024

As a researcher, I’ve discovered that Tether cooperated with law enforcement agencies by freezing 198 wallets at their request in the past year. Among these requests, 90 came from U.S. government authorities. The collective effort resulted in over $639 million being immobilized.

As a researcher studying the financial sector, I’ve come across an intriguing development: the $140 million freeze in Tether transactions. The specifics of what led to this halt in transactions have yet to be disclosed. However, based on Tether’s past declarations, it seems they place great emphasis on adhering to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations and compliance with sanctions. Their collaboration with law enforcement suggests that the frozen addresses might have been connected to questionable activities. Regrettably, Tether hasn’t released any information regarding these blocked wallets.

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2024-07-15 18:58