BroadChain News, April 24, 13:30, according to Bitcoinist, Tether disclosed that, at the request of the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and law enforcement agencies, it has frozen $344 million USDT held in two Tron wallets. The company stated that these wallets were identified as being associated with sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illegal activities. Tether said it collaborates with over 340 law enforcement agencies in 65 countries, and this freeze is part of its routine response. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized that USDT should not be a "safe haven" for illegal activities, and the company takes swift action against sanctioned entities or criminal networks with credible links.
Tether stated that its global cooperation has supported over 2,300 cases, of which more than 1,200 involve U.S. law enforcement agencies, with cumulative frozen assets exceeding $4.4 billion, including $2.1 billion related to U.S. authorities. Meanwhile, the second-largest stablecoin issuer, Circle, faces a lawsuit over its handling of USDC in the Drift Protocol hack incident. The plaintiff alleges that Circle failed to freeze the stolen funds, despite having the technical capability and contractual authority, as the attacker transferred up to $230 million to the Ethereum blockchain via Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP). Tether, on the other hand, announced a strategic partnership with Drift Protocol to support user recovery and platform restart, providing nearly $150 million in joint support, with Tether contributing up to $127.5 million.