Stablecoin issuer Tether has frozen $225 million worth of USDT tokens as part of an investigation into a human trafficking syndicate in Southeast Asia. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) collaborated with Tether and crypto exchange OKX to freeze the funds, which were used by a crime syndicate involved in a romance scam. The scam involved developing online relationships with unsuspecting individuals and convincing them to invest in legitimate businesses before conning them. Tether conducted a months-long investigation to locate the funds and will work with U.S. authorities to unfreeze any lawful wallets that may have been seized. This collaboration with law enforcement agencies demonstrates Tether’s commitment to safety and integrity in the crypto space. This is not the first time Tether has worked with law enforcement agencies to freeze assets linked to criminal activities. In the past, they coordinated with Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing to freeze funds used for funding terrorist activities. Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, stablecoins like USDT can be issued by a single authority, allowing the issuer to freeze funds and halt transactions in response to law enforcement requests. However, crypto held on exchanges can also be subject to the same treatment, as seen with Binance restricting account access and freezing accounts linked to militant groups. The enforcement agencies are increasing their focus on crypto-related crime.

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Information	Details
Geography	Asia
Countries	🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇺🇦
Sentiment	neutral
Relevance Score	1
People	Paolo Ardoino
Companies	United States Department of Justice (DOJ), OKX, Binance, Tether, Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing
Currencies	Tether, Bitcoin
Securities	None