Wallet Freeze Policy for OFAC Sanctioned Individuals

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Stablecoin issuer Tether said it was taking a voluntary approach to wallet freezes as part of its ongoing efforts to cooperate with regulators.

This list includes both individuals and companies owned or controlled by sanctioned countries.

In a blog post published on December 9, stablecoin issuer Tether said it was taking a voluntary approach to wallet freezing as part of its ongoing efforts to cooperate with law enforcement and regulators.

Since December 1, Tether has been providing controls to freeze transactions involving sanctioned individuals on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

This list includes both individuals and companies owned or controlled by sanctioned countries.

Tether claims that this strategy will strengthen its current security procedures and that it plans to work more closely with international regulators and law enforcement agencies.

The list is used by the U.S. Treasury to stop cryptocurrency transactions that may be linked to criminal activities such as terrorist financing and unauthorized sales of fentanyl.

Tether has already frozen wallets that were previously included in the SDN list, which goes against the company’s previous stance on the topic. OFAC alleges that since 2019, individuals and criminal groups have used Tornado Cash to launder more than $7 billion in cryptocurrency. Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said:

“By voluntarily freezing newly added wallet addresses to the SDN list and freezing previously added addresses, we can further strengthen the positive use of stablecoin technology and promote a more secure stablecoin ecosystem for all users. “There will be.”

The Hong Kong-based company is responsible for the stablecoin Tether, whose market capitalization soared to record highs during the U.S. government’s recent crackdown on cryptocurrency companies. It is clear that there is a significant market for stablecoins, which currently have a market cap of $90 billion, accounting for approximately 70% of the total.

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