Tether will block USDT on sanctioned wallets
Tether Limited, the company behind the largest stablecoin by capitalization, Tether USD (USDT), plans to freeze the wallets of companies and individuals who hold USDT if they are on the US Treasury Department's sanctions list. This was reported by Cointelegraph.
Any payments to these persons will also be frozen.
A Tether representative emphasized that the company remains committed to the policy of blocking transactions to addresses included in the OFAC SDN list, and is committed to promptly responding to such cases.
The announcement follows reports that Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA was using USDT to circumvent sanctions. Earlier, Reuters reported that PDVSA has been using the USDT stablecoin for export payments since last year after the United States imposed new sanctions on the country’s oil industry.
After several unsuccessful attempts to use the Petro cryptocurrency, issued by the Venezuelan authorities in 2018, PDVSA began to involve USDT in its financial transactions. Due to restrictions associated with the use of Petro, the company used intermediaries to conduct transactions with USDT.
The announcement follows reports that Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA was using USDT to circumvent sanctions. Earlier, Reuters reported that PDVSA has been using the USDT stablecoin for export payments since last year after the United States imposed new sanctions on the country’s oil industry.
After several unsuccessful attempts to use the Petro cryptocurrency, issued by the Venezuelan authorities in 2018, PDVSA began to involve USDT in its financial transactions. Due to restrictions associated with the use of Petro, the company used intermediaries to conduct transactions with USDT.
“Tether respects OFAC’s SDN list and is committed to ensuring that sanctioned addresses are properly frozen,” a company spokesperson said in a comment to Cointelegraph.
In an effort to comply with the requirements of US regulators, Tether announced the implementation of a policy of preventive blocking of wallets associated with sanctions. Last year, the company actively cooperated with the Department of Justice, the US Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which led to the blocking of 326 wallets containing USDT stablecoins worth a total of $435 million.
That same year, the company also announced the launch of a new policy to freeze wallets belonging to individuals sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
That same year, the company also announced the launch of a new policy to freeze wallets belonging to individuals sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The tightening of the sanctions policy and adherence to it by token issuers once again reminds us of the importance of AML verification of our addresses and the addresses of counterparties. Check your crypto wallet for cleanliness, protect yourself from blocking, perform AML address verification, track a transaction - you can do this and more in our Btrace solution. Free AML wallet verification for every new user.
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