Author: Ryan Weeks, Todd Gillespie, Taylan Bilgic
Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News
Original title: Tether's compliance approach changes after assisting Turkey in freezing $1 billion in assets.
On January 30, Turkish authorities announced the freezing of over $500 million in assets belonging to Veysel Sahin, who is accused of operating an illegal gambling platform and money laundering. The Istanbul chief prosecutor revealed that an unnamed cryptocurrency company carried out the freeze at the request of the Turkish government.
This company is Tether Holdings SA, which issues the $185 billion stablecoin USDT. Recently, the company has been actively assisting governments worldwide in combating various cryptocurrency-related crimes, including money laundering, drug trafficking, and sanctions evasion.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated, "Law enforcement contacts us with relevant information, and after verifying the information, we take action in accordance with the laws of the countries in which they operate. We follow this process when cooperating with agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI."
Tether declined to comment further on the case. Bloomberg attempted to contact Sahin but was unsuccessful. A Turkish official also declined to name the company mentioned in the prosecutor's statement.
The €460 million (approximately $544 million) in assets frozen this time is part of a large-scale law enforcement operation in Turkey, bringing the total amount of assets frozen in cases to over $1 billion. According to Turkish television NTV, several days after the announcement of Sahin's asset freeze, another individual was investigated for suspected money laundering and illegal gambling, and $500 million worth of cryptocurrency assets under his name were also frozen. However, it is currently unclear whether this asset freeze involves tokens issued by Tether.
An unnamed Turkish official, speaking to Bloomberg on sensitive legal matters, revealed that authorities have uncovered "financial traces" of these suspected illicit proceeds by tracing fund flows and analyzing crypto assets, and indicated that similar asset freezes will be implemented against individuals involved in illegal gambling and payment systems in the future.
For Tether, this freeze is just one of its increasingly frequent fund freezes, highlighting the cryptocurrency giant's growing cooperation with law enforcement agencies worldwide.
A report released by analytics firm Elliptic in January showed that by the end of 2025, Tether and its competitor Circle Internet Group Inc. would have blacklisted approximately 5,700 wallets, involving assets worth about $2.5 billion, a negligible figure two years prior. At the time of the freeze, three-quarters of these wallets held USDT.
Arda Akartuna, Elliptic's head of crypto threat intelligence for the Asia-Pacific region, said: "As the legal adoption of cryptocurrencies and the integration of global payments accelerate, illicit use is also increasing, prompting stablecoin issuers to become more proactive in intervention."
Tether frequently touts its efforts to combat crime, including in communications seeking to raise funds at a valuation of up to $500 billion in order to attract potential investors. According to its website, Tether has assisted law enforcement in over 1,800 cases in 62 countries, freezing $3.4 billion worth of USDT related to suspected illegal activities.
In an interview, Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Tether's partner Anchorage Digital Bank, said, "They (Tether) are extremely proactive in their collaborations, and among stablecoin issuers, the company has the 'best-recognized reputation' among law enforcement agencies."
Anchorage is the issuer of Tether's compliant USD stablecoin, USAT, which launched in late January, marking Tether's return to the US market.
This represents a dramatic shift from the tense relationship between Tether and US regulators a few years ago. After a conflict with regulators in 2018, Tether essentially withdrew from the US market and in 2021 paid $41 million to settle allegations that it had misrepresented its reserves.
However, the second Trump administration welcomed the cryptocurrency industry. Last year, Ardoino, along with several other executives, attended the ceremony where President Trump signed the stablecoin regulatory bill.
Even so, Tether's USDT continues to be subject to scrutiny by regulatory agencies due to its widespread use by criminals.
On January 9, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced charges against a Venezuelan citizen for laundering $1 billion using USDT. A recent report by Elliptic indicated that the Central Bank of Iran purchased over $500 million in USDT to alleviate its currency crisis and circumvent U.S. sanctions.
Turkish fugitive Sahin is accused of leading an organization that laundered money for illegal online gambling platforms. According to local media reports, Sahin was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2017, released in 2023, and then sentenced to 21 years in prison a month later. His current whereabouts are unknown, but the Turkish state news agency Anadolu Agency reported on January 30 that "relevant authorities are proceeding with legal procedures to extradite him back to Turkey."
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