Over 50 Million USDT Blacklisted by Tether, What Happened?

As a researcher with a background in blockchain technology and digital currencies, I’ve been closely monitoring the developments surrounding Tether (USDT), the world’s most popular stablecoin. The recent news that Tether has blacklisted five wallets receiving a combined total of 54.1 million USDT based on information provided by Arkham Intelligence is not surprising, given Tether’s history of taking action against wallets linked to illicit activities.


Five unidentified cryptocurrency wallets have been flagged by Tether, the well-known stablecoin issuer, after they collectively received approximately 54.1 million USDT, as indicated in the data from Arkham Intelligence.

In the past six months, that particular wallet had sent the majority of its funds to various other wallets. However, a more current transaction, noticed just two days ago, initiated from this same wallet.

Over 50 Million USDT Blacklisted by Tether, What Happened?

Tether has taken action against illicit activities before. In collaboration with OKX and the U.S. Department of Justice, they previously frozen approximately 225 million USDT tokens during an investigation into an international human trafficking ring linked to a romance scam in Southeast Asia.

In response to heightened regulatory oversight, Tether has become more vigilant in examining its customer base for adherence to rules and has banned certain wallets suspected of questionable activity.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Kraken, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange, is contemplating delisting Tether (USDT) in response to the impending regulatory requirements of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. The MiCA regulations are scheduled to be implemented in July this year.

Kraken is considering various options, such as discontinuing support for Tether, which sees significant trading activity on its EU platform. The impending MiCA regulations may influence the USDT, a stablecoin linked to the US dollar, issued by Tether Holdings Ltd. within the US regulatory framework.

The European Banking Authority’s upcoming regulations, still under review, will likely limit the use of stablecoins for investors in the EU. These digital currenies are primarily employed by traders to move cryptocurrencies between platforms and as a hedge against volatility in token markets.

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2024-05-18 17:31