Tether Cracks Down: $12.3M Frozen on Tron Amid Suspicious Activity

Tether just flexed its compliance muscles—freezing a cool $12.3M in USDT on the Tron network. Another day, another ''trust us, we’re stable'' moment.

Why the freeze? Suspicious movements triggered the kill switch. No details yet, but let’s just say someone’s exit strategy got wrecked.

Meanwhile, regulators are probably high-fiving—another excuse to push their ''see? crypto needs rules'' narrative. Because traditional finance never launders money, right?

• Tether freezes $12.3M on Tron because of the funds’ possible connection to money laundering concerns. 
• With a history of blocking illicit assets, Tether continues to work with TRON, TRM Labs, and law enforcement agencies worldwide. 

Tether has frozen about $12.3 million worth of USDT on the Tron blockchain after suspected on-chain activity. The move comes during the company’s efforts to combat fraud and prevent the misuse of its stablecoin in illegal transactions. 

According to on-chain data from Tronscan, Tether froze USDT on the Tron network at 9:15 am UTC on Sunday. While the details of the actions are still very limited and the company has not released any official explanation, the action may be linked to possible sanctions issues or money laundering concerns.

Tether’s Ongoing Efforts in Fighting Crypto Crime

The company has a previous history with the freezing of assets, as in November 2023, it was reported that over $374,000 worth of crypto assets linked to the Lazarus Group was frozen and blacklisted. 

The CEO, Paolo Ardoino, has also previously shared that Tether has the ability to track transactions and freeze USDT tied to illegal activity, but he emphasizes that the company is able to differentiate regular money from laundered funds. This step highlights the company’s focus on not just protecting its platform but also maintaining a good name and users’ trust. 

Ardonio also stressed that Tether is serious about helping to put an end to financial crimes, and the company plans to continually keep working with law enforcement around the world to stop bad actors from abusing stablecoins.

To further prove this point, TRM Labs shared data that showed the decrease in the number of illegal crypto deals. According to data reported by TRM Labs, illegal crypto deals dropped to $45 billion in 2024, which is about 0.4% of all crypto trades. This milestone was achieved through team effort between Tether, TRON, and TRM Labs; the T3 Financial Crime Unit managed to freeze over $100 million in criminal funds during the last four months of 2024.

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