Tether Froze OFAC-Sanctioned Wallets in ‘Proactive’ Security Measure

It has been revealed the fact that Tether has just frozen OFAC-sanctioned wallets in a proactive security measure. Check out the latest reports about the matter below.

Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, has announced that it is freezing the wallets of individuals who have been sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC).

The company stated that this is a voluntary measure taken to prevent any potential misuse of Tether tokens and enhance security measures.

Existing wallets on the OFAC list will be frozen along with any new wallets added in the future. This is one of the first significant moves made by Tether’s new CEO, Paolo Ardoino, who took over this month.

Ardoino hailed this new policy as an expansion of the company’s close working relationship with global law enforcement and regulators in the press release.

Tether has previously frozen funds that were linked to illegal activities on a few occasions.

However, the company had been hesitant to freeze wallets that interacted with the sanctioned Tornado Cash protocol.

This was because Tether claimed it had not received any requests from U.S. law enforcement to do so.

But, following the latest announcement, blockchain records now show that Tether has blacklisted Tornado Cash’s contract addresses.

The largest stablecoin in the market, Tether (USDT), has reached an all-time high market cap of $85.9 billion.

This surge in value coincides with Michael Barr, the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair for Supervision, advocating for more stringent regulations for stablecoins in the United States.

The spotlight is now on the importance of regulating stablecoins, which are becoming a crucial part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Tether’s increase in market cap has helped it maintain its top position, with Circle’s USDC and MakerDAO’s Dai (DAI) closely behind.