Tether has frozen over $12.3 million worth of USDT on the Tron blockchain as part of its ongoing efforts to combat suspicious activities including money laundering, sanctioned entities involvement, and cybercrime. The freeze took place at 9:15 am UTC on June 15, 2025, as confirmed by on-chain data from Tronscan. Although Tether has not issued a public statement regarding this specific freeze, it aligns with its strict anti-money laundering (AML) policies and compliance with the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list.
This action is consistent with previous freezes, such as the $27 million USDT freeze in March linked to wallets associated with the Russia-sanctioned Garantex exchange. Garantex was sanctioned by OFAC in April 2022 due to AML violations related to ransomware and darknet activities. Despite sanctions, wallets tied to Garantex reportedly still hold significant reserves.
Tether, together with the Tron Network and analytics firm TRM Labs, launched the T3 Financial Crimes Unit in 2024. In its first six months, the unit froze $126 million in USDT linked to illicit activities through joint intelligence efforts, emphasizing Tether’s proactive stance on anti-crime measures in the crypto space.
Additionally, Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino highlighted the company's ability to track and freeze suspect assets, which supports law enforcement actions against blockchain-based financial crimes. These measures distinguish Tether's systematic compliance and oversight from other more decentralized cryptocurrency systems.
On June 12, Tether also made a strategic investment by acquiring a 32% stake in Elemental Altus Royalties, a Canadian public gold royalty company, for approximately $89.4 million. This move is part of a broader diversification strategy to integrate long-term, stable assets such as gold and Bitcoin alongside Tether’s stablecoin infrastructure to strengthen its digital economy ecosystem’s resilience.