Tether, the developer of the world’s largest stablecoin, has frozen the wallets of individuals sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the company announced today.
In an announcement, Tether framed the move as a “voluntary measure to proactively prevent potential misuse of Tether tokens and strengthen our security measures,” and stated that existing wallets on OFAC’s list will be frozen along with any new wallets added in the future. .
The move appears to be one of the first major moves by CEO Paolo Ardoino, who took over as the company’s former CTO this month. Ardoino praised the new policy in a company press release, saying it “expands our closer partnership with global law enforcement and regulators.”
Tether has frozen funds linked to illegal activity on several occasions in the past, but the company has been reluctant to freeze wallets that interact with its sanctions protocol, Tornado Cash, claiming it has not received any requests from U.S. law enforcement. Following today’s announcement, blockchain records show that Tether has blacklisted Tornado Cash’s contract address.
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