Tether Freezes $4.2B in USDT Linked to Crime Over Three Years

Stablecoin issuer Tether has frozen roughly $4.2 billion in USDt tied to suspected criminal activity over the past three years. Most of those funds were restricted since 2023 as regulators and law enforcement stepped up scrutiny of crypto-related fraud and sanctions evasion.

USDt is the largest stablecoin, with more than $180 billion outstanding, up sharply from about $70 billion three years ago. Tether can freeze tokens directly on the blockchain by blacklisting wallet addresses when requested by authorities. The company said it assisted the US Department of Justice in seizing nearly $61 million in USDt linked to "pig-butchering" scams.

Earlier this month, it froze about $544 million at the request of Turkish authorities in a case tied to an alleged illegal online betting and money-laundering operation. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported that by late 2025 Tether and Circle had blacklisted around 5,700 wallets holding about $2.5 billion, with roughly three-quarters of those addresses containing USDt when they were frozen.

United States; Turkey

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