Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDT, has disclosed it has frozen approximately $4.2 billion worth of its tokens linked to suspected illicit activities. A spokesperson told Reuters that the majority of this action, $3.5 billion, has occurred since 2023 alone. The company highlighted its ongoing cooperation with global law enforcement, emphasizing its role in ensuring blockchain transparency to combat criminal use of its stablecoin.
In a significant recent action, Tether assisted the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week in freezing nearly $61 million in USDT connected to "pig-butchering" scams. This type of fraud involves criminals building personal relationships with victims before luring them into fake cryptocurrency investment schemes.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated, "Tether's cooperation with the Department of Justice highlights the need for blockchain transparency to empower law enforcement to act quickly and effectively against criminal activity." He reiterated the company's commitment to supporting authorities in freezing illicit assets and protecting victims.
The company outlined several key enforcement actions from the past year involving coordination with domestic and international agencies:
In July 2025, the DOJ enabled a civil forfeiture action, freezing and reissuing $1.6 million in USDT allegedly tied to terror financing activities based in Gaza.
In June 2025, Brazilian authorities acknowledged Tether's help in blocking 32 million Brazilian reais (approx. $6.2 million) linked to a cross-border money-laundering operation via Klever Wallet. That same month, Tether worked with the DOJ and Seychelles-based exchange OKX on a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to seize roughly $225 million in USDT tied to pig-butchering scams.
In March 2025, the U.S. Secret Service froze $23 million in USDT allegedly associated with transactions on the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex.
In November 2024, Tether collaborated with the Royal Thai Police and the U.S. Secret Service to trace and seize $12 million from a transnational scam network.
In a related development, the DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force announced it has frozen and seized over $580 million in crypto assets since its creation in November 2025. Federal Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia revealed the figure, noting the task force targets transnational criminal networks operating from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos that run pig-butchering scams. Pirro stated her office will seek to return the seized funds to victims through appropriate legal processes.
The initiative coordinates actions among the DOJ, FBI, Secret Service, and U.S. Treasury. However, Deddy Lavid, CEO of blockchain analytics firm Cyvers, cautioned that the $580 million represents only a fraction of global scam volumes, with his firm identifying approximately 27,000 active criminal groups worldwide and an estimated exposure of $27.5 billion.
