Tether Freezes $1.6M in USDT Tied to Terror Financing — Here’s What Happened

Tether has once again teamed up with U.S. authorities, this time freezing and reissuing $1.6 million in USDT linked to suspected terrorism financing.

The wallets in question were allegedly connected to Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company (BuyCash), a Gaza-based network the U.S. government has tied to financial operations supporting terrorism.

The move forms part of a broader civil forfeiture case disclosed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which includes roughly $2 million in digital assets flagged for similar concerns.

Tether’s role in law enforcement efforts expands

According to Tether, the flagged wallets were identified through coordination with law enforcement in the secondary market. Once the activity was reported, Tether froze the associated USDT and reissued the funds to aid the recovery process.

“Tether’s strength lies in the transparency of blockchain technology and our ability to act decisively when abuse is detected,” said CEO Paolo Ardoino, reiterating the company’s focus on accountability and responsiveness.

This isn’t the first time Tether has assisted in investigations.

Just earlier this month, Brazilian authorities cited the company’s help in blocking over $6.2 million (R$32 million) in a cross-border money laundering operation involving Klever Wallet.

In June, Tether worked with the DOJ in freezing around $225 million USDT in a separate enforcement action. March saw another example when Tether and the U.S. Secret Service froze $23 million tied to sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex, followed by $9 million linked to the Bybit hack.

Cumulatively, Tether reports having frozen over $2.9 billion in USDT across 5,000 wallets, including more than 2,800 freezes coordinated directly with U.S. agencies.

The company also states that it supports over 275 law enforcement agencies across 59 jurisdictions and follows a wallet-freezing policy aligned with OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List and other regulatory guidelines.

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