Tether Freezes Record-Breaking $344 Million in USDT Amid Sanctions Enforcement

Tether, the operator of the USDT stablecoin, has taken a significant step in enforcing U.S. sanctions on cryptocurrencies. On April 23, the company froze $344 million worth of USDT across two wallets on the Tron blockchain, marking the largest single compliance-related freeze in stablecoin history.

The freeze was carried out in coordination with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and multiple law enforcement agencies. Tether stated that the freeze was based on intelligence shared by U.S. authorities and involved sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illicit activities.

According to blockchain analytics firm AMLbot, both addresses appeared in documents related to fraud schemes. One of the wallets was linked to a fabricated $75 billion contract, while the other was tied to a Bitcoin-to-USDT scam promising 10% instant returns.