Ethereum

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 <p class="paragraph">Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, has taken decisive action by freezing $5.2 <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="million" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/million.html">million</a> in USDT, distributed across 12 Ethereum (ETH) wallets, to address and mitigate <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="phishing" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/phishing.html">phishing</a>-related security threats.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">This move is part of Tether’s ongoing strategy to combat financial crimes, including money laundering and phishing scams, which misuse its stablecoin within the growing $110 billion market.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">The frozen funds were identified on the blockchain security platform <em>MistTrack</em>, which flagged these wallets as “USDT Banned Addresses.”</p>
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    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">️MistTrack Alert<br><br>Just now, #Tether froze ~5.2 <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="million" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/million.html">million</a> $USDT on 12 addresses. These addresses are associated with addresses tagged as "USDT Banned Address" by #MistTrack.https://t.co/OzPQkfCehS pic.twitter.com/msAShbbl73</p>— MistTrack️ (@MistTrack_io) May 14, 2024
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 <p class="paragraph">On-chain analytics firm <em>SlowMist</em>’s chief security officer said in an X post (formerly Twitter) that the addresses were being used for laundering funds from phishing scams.</p>
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  <p class="paragraph">“It looks like Tether froze the <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="phishing" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/phishing.html">phishing</a> gang’s money laundering address today”-he said (translated from&nbsp; Chinese)</p>
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 <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="724" height="789" src="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/14/c7d297e11b8e2d95991d2f734123185b.webp" alt class="wp-image-175806" style="width: 100%;height:auto" srcset="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/14/c7d297e11b8e2d95991d2f734123185b.webp 724w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/05/14/c7d297e11b8e2d95991d2f734123185b.webp 275w" sizes="(max-width: 724px) 100vw, 724px">
  <figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Banned Addresses : Source: MistTrack</em>
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 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-historical-context-of-tether-s-security-efforts">Historical context of Tether’s security efforts</h2>
 <p class="paragraph">Historically, Tether has been proactive in collaborating with global law enforcement agencies to block addresses involved in financial crimes. Tether CEO <em>Paolo Ardoino</em>, in an X post (formerly Twitter), said:</p>
 <p class="paragraph">“Tether blocked more than $1.3 billion since inception, mostly related to scams, hacks, ML. Approximately $1.6 million is related to terrorist finance.”</p>
 <p class="paragraph">Last year, TRM Labs, a prominent U.S. blockchain analysis company that works with law enforcement agencies, reported in their blog that Tether was frequently used as a “currency of choice” for terrorist financing.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">In response, the stablecoin issuer reaffirmed its commitment to work closely with law enforcement agencies worldwide to combat crypto-funded terrorism and warfare.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">Since then, Tether has been actively blocking suspicious addresses to prevent their use of USDT in committing crimes and evading government sanctions.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">In April, Tether blocked wallet addresses that were using its stablecoin, USDT, to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">This decision followed reports that Venezuela’s state-owned oil firm, PDVSA, is planning to boost cryptocurrency (USDT) use amid U.S. sanctions. The firm has been using digital assets for over a year to navigate economic challenges from sanctions.</p>
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-continued-vigilance-against-illicit-activities">Continued vigilance against illicit activities</h2>
 <p class="paragraph">In addition to its latest actions,Tether has a history of acting against illicit activities. For instance, last year, it froze 32 wallets involved in illegal activities in Israel and Ukraine and blacklisted 160 wallets linked to the OFAC-sanctioned list.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">In 2022, it also froze an Ethereum address with over $1 <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="million" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/million.html">million</a> USDT, marking the highest amount seized from a single address to date.&nbsp;</p>
 <p class="paragraph">As Tether continues to enforce strict controls on its network, it remains at the forefront of efforts to deter and mitigate illegal activities within the cryptocurrency market.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">This ongoing commitment is crucial in fostering a safer ecosystem for digital transactions and enhancing the credibility of cryptocurrencies as a secure financial medium.</p>
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<p>Source: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/tether-freezes-5-million-in-usdt-amid-phishing-concerns-tbt88288.html">https://thebittimes.com/tether-freezes-5-million-in-usdt-amid-phishing-concerns-tbt88288.html</a></p>

Tether freezes $5 million in USDT amid phishing concerns

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