Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino disputes US Senate report accusing the company of slow response to freezing Iran-linked wallets, claiming Tether freezes addresses four weeks before formal sanctions on average.
DeFi & Yields ·
Tether's chief executive contested findings from a US Senate subcommittee report that accused the stablecoin issuer of sluggish action against Iran-connected accounts. The CEO claimed that Tether typically freezes addresses roughly four weeks ahead of official sanctions implementation, contradicting the report's characterization of delayed responses.
A Senate subcommittee inquiry titled "Tethered to Terrorism" determined that 84 percent of examined wallets engaged predominantly in USDT transfers and documented instances where certain addresses connected to Hezbollah and Iranian financial activity were not swiftly immobilized. Three accounts linked to a brokerage received $575 million in USDT during spring 2025, and according to the report, Tether did not freeze any of them.
Tether asserted it had locked approximately $550 million in Iran-related USDT holdings during the year and stated participation in immobilizing over $4.9 billion total across multiple jurisdictions, including cooperation with US authorities. The dispute centers on whether the company's freeze timeline aligns with or lags behind formal sanction designation dates, with the Senate report's specific examples of unfrozen wallets remaining unresolved in public accounts.