By Alexander Jones
On Saturday, stablecoin issuer Tether froze 41 wallets belonging to individuals included on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. In a blog post, Tether characterized these actions as “precautionary measures.”
On-chain data reveals that multiple wallets had utilized the coin-mixing service Tornado Cash within the past six months. Notably, one of the frozen wallets holds connections to the $625 million Ronin Bridge attack, attributed by the U. S. Treasury Department to North Korean hacking organization Lazarus Group.
Tether CEO Paola Ardoino emphasized the intent behind this move: “By voluntarily freezing wallet addresses associated with the SDN List and previously designated addresses, we fortify the positive utilization of stablecoin technology, fostering a more secure ecosystem for all users.”
In October, Tether froze 32 wallets linked to terrorist and war-related activities in Ukraine and Israel. Additionally, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, Tether froze $225 million linked to a human trafficking network last month.
Edited by Stephen Alpher
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