Tether Freezes $12.3 Million in Digital Assets
Tether, the issuer of USDT, the largest stablecoin globally, has halted over $12.3 million in digital assets on the Tron network. This move continues its approach to curb illegal activities within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The freezing action took place at 9:15 AM UTC, as indicated by data from Tronshun.
While Tether hasn’t released a formal statement, the freeze appears to stem from worries regarding possible sanctions violations or risks related to anti-money laundering (AML).
“Tether maintains a strict wallet-freezing policy to fight money laundering, nuclear proliferation, and terrorist financing, and it aligns with the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list,” Tether mentioned in a blog post from March 7.
This policy aligns with the sanctions list from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Cointelegraph attempted to reach Tether for comments about the fund freeze but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Tether’s capacity to freeze assets recently gained attention after it halted $27 million in USDT on the Garantex crypto exchange on March 6. On that day, Garantex stated, “Tether engaged in a conflict with the Russian crypto market, claiming it had blocked over 2.5 billion rubles worth of wallets.”
This oversight is particularly noteworthy as, back in April 2022, OFAC was the first to impose sanctions on Garantex, citing the exchange’s disregard for AML and other regulatory requirements.
Despite the previous freeze, blockchain analysis firm Global Ledger noted over $15 million in active reserves linked to Garantex as of June 5, according to Cointelegraph.
Investigation into Funds Linked to Lazarus
While some proponents of decentralization have critiqued Tether’s ability to freeze assets, this mechanism helps prevent hundreds of millions of dollars from being exploited by illicit actors.
The T3 Financial Crimes Unit (FCU), initiated by Tether, the Tron Network, and TRM Labs, managed to freeze USDT worth $126 million during its first six months of operation, as reported by Cointelegraph in January 2025.
The FCU was created to assist global law enforcement agencies in freezing illegal transactions. The significance of these efforts was underscored by the North Korean-backed Lazarus Group, which laundered over $200 million of stolen funds between 2020 and 2023.
Lazarus is deemed one of the most notorious hacking groups within the crypto space, having been active since 2009 and stealing upwards of $3 billion in crypto assets over the years leading to 2023.
According to ZachxBT, Tether blacklisted more than $374,000 in stolen assets, while three other stablecoin issuers also blacklisted an additional $3.4 million tied to Lazarus-related address clusters.
