Tether Freezes Wallets Amid Security Concerns

Over the past six months, several frozen wallets utilized the services of Tornado Cash. On Saturday, Tether, the stablecoin issuer, took precautionary measures by freezing 41 wallets controlled by individuals listed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, reports CoinDesk.

Tether characterized these actions as preventive steps in a blog post. On-chain data reveals that a number of these wallets had previously employed the coin-mixing service Tornado Cash. Notably, one of the frozen wallets is connected to the $625 million Ronin Bridge attack, attributed by the U.S. Treasury Department to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino explained that by voluntarily freezing addresses newly added to the SDN List and those previously added, they aim to enhance the positive utilization of stablecoin technology and foster a safer stablecoin ecosystem for all users.

This move follows Tether's October decision to freeze 32 wallets associated with terrorism and warfare in Ukraine and Israel, as well as the freezing of $225 million last month in connection with a human trafficking syndicate, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.