Yesterday Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, identified and blocked 12 crypto addresses with a total value of 5.2 million USDT, after detecting suspicious origins from fake phishing attempts.
With this move, the company based in the British Virgin Islands reaffirms its commitment and dedication to fighting scams and illicit activities in the crypto sector.
A few days ago, Tether itself was the subject of scandal after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse threw mud at USDT expressing concern about the upcoming regulatory actions of the US government.
Let’s see all the details below.
Crypto news: Tether freezes 5.2 million USDT recycled with fake phishing schemes
Tether, a famous stablecoin issuer, continues to put sticks in the wheels of all hackers and scammers in the crypto sector.
Yesterday the cryptographic company identified and froze USDT tokens worth a total of 5.2 million dollars, coming from money laundering activities through fake phishing.
The alarm about the illegality of the funds had been raised by the on-chain analysis company MisTrack, which a few hours before Tether’s actions, had reported how the cryptos had moved to 12 different Ethereum addresses.
MistTrack Alert
Just now, #Tether froze ~5.2 million $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
— MistTrack
(@MistTrack_io) May 14, 2024
Immediately the funds, targeted as phishing proceeds, obtained through a particular type of scam that deceives victims with fake addresses, have been frozen and added to the Black List of Tether.
For several years now, the company, committed to managing the issuance of USDT and controlling its on-chain transactions, has been fighting illicit activities in the crypto world carried out through its stablecoin.
Usually when in this context Tether detects attempts of money laundering, scams, hack attacks, fake phishing attempts, it adds a block to the wallet of the person responsible for these activities and prevents them from exchanging the cryptocurrencies, making the coins worthless.
At the moment we can count a total of 1,476 addresses added to Tether’s Black List, for a total of 1.1 billion USDT blocked.
Recently the company had blocked another online scam managed by criminals who posed as cryptographic technical support, managing to suspend 1.4 million USDT thanks also to the collaboration of the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Tether has also repeatedly reaffirmed the solidity of its flagship product USDT, despite the criticisms of various detractors, emphasizing the transparency of the asset, guaranteed with cash, US Treasury securities, Overnight Reverse Repurchase Agreements, Money Market funds, guaranteed deposits, Bitcoin, and precious metals.
The financial stability of Tether has been further strengthened by the latest quarterly data from the stablecoin industry giant, with profits reaching a record value of 4.5 billion dollars.
Paolo Ardoino responds to Ripple’s CEO provocations and praises Tether’s results in the crypto world
Recently we witnessed a rather bizarre attempt to destabilize the throne of Tether by a well-known competitor in the crypto sector, with criticisms that did not have to wait before receiving an immediate response and being marked as fake news.
It all started when the United Nations Report identified USDT as the preferred crypto by scammers looking to launder money, creating a media frenzy around Tether, always revered as perfectly compliant with US regulations and therefore opposed to illicit activities carried out with its own currency.
A few days after the shocking report, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, during an interesting podcast, emphasized how “The United States government is going after Tether“ expressing concern about a possible federal investigation into the company with operational headquarters in Hong Kong and legal headquarters in the British Virgin Islands.
Garlighouse also criticized Paolo Ardoino, as an “uninformed CEO” regarding potentially harmful facts for their business.
The CEO of Tether immediately spoke out against X to counter Garlinghouse’s comments, describing his statements as fake and insinuating that he was driven by the imminent launch of Ripple’s stablecoin that could compete with USDT.
Ardoino then defended his company’s position by listing all the results achieved and the positive actions in supporting a crypto environment where legality prevails and where scams, hacks, and fake phishing are fought against.
In particular, the Italian-American billionaire pointed out how due to various irregularities in January 2022, Tether blocked 3 addresses containing 150 million dollars, and then froze another 360 million USDT by the end of the year.
More recently, in November 2023, the company seized addresses containing 225 million USDT linked to alleged human trafficking in Southeast Asia.
It is also worth noting how the company has collaborated with 24 police agencies in over 40 countries in recent years, working on approximately 339 wallet blocking requests in just the last 3 years.
Tether has also offered controls on the secondary market to freeze assets linked to sanctioned individuals listed in the Office of Foreign Assets Control Specially Designated Nationals of the United States, as well as offering its availability to on-chain monitoring companies like Chainalysis.
An uniformed CEO, leading a company being investigated by the SEC, launching a competitive stablecoin (cui prodest), is being reported spreading fear about USDt.
Let me give you an update on Tether USDt ecosystem safety.
USDt is the most used stablecoin in the world, with…
— Paolo Ardoino 
(@paoloardoino) May 13, 2024
All this underlines Tether’s untouchable position, as the guardian of the crypto world committed to preserving the integrity of the industry and fighting illicit activities.