Tether Freezes All OFAC-Sanctioned Wallets in 'Proactive' Security Measure
Tether has frozen coins held in crypto wallets sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Controls, the company announced.
- "In its announcement, Tether framed the move as a voluntary step to "proactively prevent any potential misuse of Tether tokens and enhance security measures," and clarified that existing wallets on the OFAC list would be frozen along with any new wallets added in the future."
"This strategic decision aligns with our unwavering commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safety for our global ecosystem and expanding our close working relationship with global law enforcement and regulators. By executing voluntary wallet address freezing of new additions to the SDN List and freezing previously added addresses, we will be able to further strengthen the positive usage of stablecoin technology and promote a safer stablecoin ecosystem for all users," stated Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
- "While Tether has frozen funds related to unlawful activity several times in the past, the company had been reluctant to freeze wallets which interacted with sanctioned protocol Tornado Cash, claiming it had not received any requests from U.S. law enforcement to do so."
- "Following this announcement, blockchain records show Tether blacklisted Tornado Cash's contract addresses," reported The Block.
