The stablecoin issuer says it has now supported more than 2,300 cases worldwide, including over 1,200 with U.S. agencies.
Tether said Thursday it has frozen $344 million in USDT across two wallet addresses on the Tron blockchain, acting on information shared by U.S. authorities about activity tied to “unlawful conduct.”
The stablecoin issuer said in a statement that the freeze, executed in coordination with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and U.S. law enforcement, prevented further movement of the funds once the addresses were identified. Tether did not specify the underlying alleged conduct.
The action lifts Tether’s cumulative cooperation with U.S. authorities to more than $2.1 billion in frozen assets, out of a global total exceeding $4.4 billion, the company said. Tether added that it now works with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 65 countries and has supported over 2,300 cases globally, including more than 1,200 tied to U.S. agencies.
“USD₮ is not a safe haven for illicit activity,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in the announcement. “When credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively.”
Ardoino added that the company combines blockchain transparency with real-time monitoring and direct coordination with law enforcement to “stop funds before they can move.”
The freeze extends a string of high-profile collaborations between Tether and U.S. authorities. The company noted that the Department of Justice has previously acknowledged its support in seizures of nearly $61 million and approximately $225 million tied to pig butchering fraud, a romance-investment scam category that is becoming more widespread.
Tether’s compliance posture has shifted markedly since 2022, when the company declined to preemptively freeze sanctioned addresses following the U.S. Treasury’s action against Tornado Cash. The issuer has since become a central player in cross-border on-chain enforcement, joining with Tron and TRM Labs in September 2024 to launch the T3 Financial Crime Unit, which had frozen more than $300 million in illicitly sourced funds as of late 2025.
The expanded enforcement footprint also coincides with tensifying U.S. regulatory pressure on stablecoin issuers. The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, requires payment stablecoin issuers to maintain on-chain freezing capabilities and comply with sanctions and AML rules, though final implementing regulations remain pending.
Tether launched its self-custodial wallet earlier this month and last week led a $150 million recovery plan for Drift Protocol following the Solana DEX’s April 1 exploit.
This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.
