Tether, the company behind the world’s most widely used stablecoin, USDT, has revealed that it has frozen approximately $4.2 billion worth of its tokens tied to suspected illicit activity, with the majority of those actions taking place over the past three years.
Tether Expands Crackdown On Criminal Use Of USDTEarlier in the week, Tether Chief Executive Officer Paolo Ardoino highlighted the company’s recent cooperation with US authorities:
Tether’s cooperation with the Department of Justice highlights the need for blockchain transparency to empower law enforcement to act quickly and effectively against criminal activity.
Tether also outlined several enforcement actions carried out over the past year that involved coordination with domestic and international authorities.
DOJ, Brazil, Secret Service SeizuresIn June 2025, Brazilian authorities also acknowledged Tether’s assistance in blocking 32 million Brazilian reais — approximately $6.2 million — linked to a cross‑border money-laundering operation conducted through Klever Wallet.
In March of that same year, the US Secret Service froze $23 million in the firm’s USDT stablecoin that was allegedly associated with transactions on Garantex, a Russian exchange under sanctions.
Additionally, in November of last year, the stablecoin issuer said it collaborated with the Royal Thai Police and the US Secret Service to trace and seize $12 million from a transnational scam network.
Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
