Tether Freezes $12.3 Million in USDT Linked to Money Laundering

Tether froze $12.3 million in USDT on the Tron blockchain, targeting wallets connected to money laundering and sanctions evasion. This action is part of a broader effort as Tether's T3 Financial Crime Unit has frozen over $126 million in questionable assets since late 2024.

Key Developments

Tether collaborated with Tron and TRM Labs for real-time transaction monitoring.
$100 million was frozen in the last quarter of 2024.
Tether blacklists wallets linked to sanctioned entities, including those on the US Treasury's OFAC list.
In March 2025, Tether froze $27 million on the Russian exchange Garantex due to sanctions.
North Korea’s Lazarus Group had $374,000 in USDT blacklisted in November 2023; other stablecoins locked $3.4 million from similar wallets.
Tether acquired a 32% stake in Elemental Altus Royalties, buying over 78 million shares at CAD1.55 each for approximately $89 million.
This diversification aims to strengthen reserves and enhance confidence in its stablecoin.

Tether's strategy combines enforcement against criminal activity with asset backing to appeal to regulators and investors.