Tether CEO claims Iran-linked USDT volumes fell 94% due to wallet freezes

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the company’s wallet freezing measures have caused a 94% decline in Iran-connected stablecoin transaction volumes since 2023. Ardoino addressed the figures after scrutiny from a U.S. Senate report highlighting the role of Tether’s stablecoin in financing Iranian activities. According to Ardoino, Tether implemented wallet freezes for addresses suspected of links to Iran, with action often taken weeks before formal designations by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He noted that, on average, Tether froze suspicious wallet addresses four weeks before OFAC acted and claimed that, in the majority of cases, interventions preceded similar alerts from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. When a wallet is frozen, the tokens associated with that address become inaccessible for transfer or spending.

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