Tether Freezes $225 million in USDT Related to Crime Syndicate

The USDT stablecoin company Tether has blocked about $225 million in USDT in cooperation with the US Department of Justice, the OKX cryptocurrency exchange and the Chainalysis analytical firm.

Following Investigations by Tether, OKX, and the U.S. Department of Justice, Tether Voluntarily Freezes 225M in Stolen USDT Linked to International Crime Syndicate https://t.co/yrofwNtK5s

According to the press release, the funds are linked to an international criminal syndicate engaged in human trafficking in Southeast Asia. The volume of frozen USDT in Tether was called "the largest in history". 

"During the months-long investigation conducted by Tether and OKX, US law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, were warned in advance about the location of illegal funds by analyzing their movement through the blockchain. These actions led to a request for freezing by the US Secret Service and [subsequent] voluntary blocking by Tether," the company said.

Paolo Ardoino, appointed to the position of CEO of the issuer, called the work carried out "impressive".

Impressive work by @Tether_to and @okx teams, alongside with Law Enforcement to stop bad guys???? https://t.co/P0U8ydP91x

"We believe in the need to use technology and connections, such as our cooperation with OKX, to actively counter illegal activities and maintain the highest standards of integrity in the industry," Ardoino added.

Earlier, Tether froze more than 2.5 million USDT withdrawn from the Multichain cross-chain protocol. In September, the issuer blocked $1.4 million of the $2.7 million stolen from the Remitano exchange.

Recall that in October, 32 addresses worth $873,118.34 were subjected to a similar procedure due to links with conflicts in Israel and Ukraine.