Leading stablecoin issuer, Tether, is freezing new addresses and sending USDT holders into a panic. At a time when the crypto sector is very unstable, the need to bring order and increase transparency is felt, and Tether intends to bring its stone to the building.
Tether freezes a new batch of USDT on the Ethereum blockchain
On October 10, Whale Alert, the monitoring resource, identified multiple transactions indicating that Tether froze three USDT addresses. Indeed, the leading stablecoin issuer froze more than $8 million of the cryptocurrency. Based on transaction log data frometherscanthe frozen addresses collectively hold $8.2 million of the USDT stablecoin.
These three addresses holding 3.4 million USDT, 1.95 million USDT and 2.9 million USDT respectively can no longer move funds. According to statements from a Tether spokesperson, the company is working with law enforcement around the world to help with investigations and blockages. However, the reason for all these freezes remains unknown.
He adds that in a world-class compliance framework, he cannot comment on these interventions. Recall that this is not the first time Tether has blacklisted Ethereum-based USDT addresses. Indeed, according to data from Philippe Castonguay, an Ethereum researcher, the stablecoin issuer added 215 addresses to the blacklist in 2022.
But this is nothing compared to the blockages of 2021, where there are 357 address freezes. Thus, according to data from CoinGecko, the total frozen USDT based on Ethereum stands at over 443 million. This represents approximately 0.64% of the 65 billion USDT in circulation.
Since the first blacklisting of a USDT address in 2017, Tether has blocked over 795 Ethereum (ETH)-based addresses so far. The company is actively cooperating with regulators to bring order to the industry. Earlier this year, in January, Tether caused a stir when it blocked three Ethereum addresses holding over $150 million worth of USDT.
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