The Financial Crimes Unit (FCU), led by the Tether, Tron and TRM Labs stablecoin issuers, has collectively frozen $126 million since the FCU was established in August 2024.
The FCU collaborates with law enforcement agencies worldwide to freeze illegal transactions; the agency has monitored USDt trading volume of around $3 billion in 2024.
According to the FCU, money laundering accounted for nearly half of the frozen funds, at $56 million. The second largest category of frozen assets was $36 million in investment fraud cases.
Despite the ability to return stolen assets to fraud victims and prevent crime, the freezing of assets and financial monitoring have become a controversial topic in the cryptocurrency community.
Decentralists argue that centrally-managed cryptocurrencies pose a significant threat to autonomy and create the potential for financial censorship by governments and large corporations.
History of Tether USDT account freezes
Tether has frozen $8.2 million on the Ethereum network in October 2022. At the time, the stablecoin issuer did not provide a reason for this action and had frozen 215 USDT addresses on Ethereum that year.
The total USDT the company blacklisted in 2022 amounted to over $360 million.
In October 2023, the stablecoin issuer froze around $873,000 in USDT allegedly linked to terrorist activities in Ukraine and Israel — bringing the total USDT the company has frozen to $835 million.
Tether cooperated in a U.S. Department of Justice-led investigation into a human trafficking ring in Southeast Asia in November 2023.
As part of the investigation, Tether froze $225 million in stablecoin linked to the group allegedly obtained through a "pig butchering" scam.
In April 2024, Tether also announced it would freeze Venezuelan assets to enforce U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Control sanctions on the South American country.
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK | TELEGRAM | TWITTER
Disclaimer: All content on this website is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Readers should do their own research before making investment decisions. We are not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content you read on this website.
