The self-described “largest company in the cryptocurrency industry” — Tether — revealed in letters to U.S. legislators that it has recently “onboarded the United States Secret Service into our platform and is in the process of doing the same with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”
“These strategic relationships reinforce our commitment to supporting law enforcement in combating nefarious activities and contributing to the recovery of victims’ funds,” Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino wrote in a letter dated December 15 to Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.).
Tether made public “its recent letters to the members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.”
“These letters detail Tether’s commitment to fighting illicit use of stablecoins,” the company stated in a news release.
Tether Releases Letters Shared With The U.S. Senate Committee On Banking, Housing, And Urban Affairs And The U.S. House Financial Services Committee
Read More ⬇️https://t.co/wK9iU4ht6i
— Tether (@Tether_to) December 15, 2023
If you think a partnership between a leading cryptocurrency company and the federal government sounds a little fascist, wait, because it gets worse.
“Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, who recently took the helm of the company, emphasized Tether’s recent decision to disable Tether’s tokens in all wallets on the Office of Foreign Assets and Controls (OFAC) sanction list,” The Block reports. “Tether claims to have helped the Department of Justice, U.S. Secret Service, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) freeze 326 wallets controlling 435 million USDT so far, though its latest frozen wallets seemingly contain far fewer tokens than that sum.”
The December 15th letter “lays out Tether’s proactive decision to align with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, extending sanctions controls to the secondary market to ensure comprehensive security measures,” the company stated in the news release.
“Tether’s launch of a wallet-freezing policy on December 1, 2023, is a landmark initiative for enhanced security and compliance within the cryptocurrency ecosystem,” it continued. “The strategic freezing of wallets associated with the SDN List is a robust move to safeguard users and maintain the integrity of the stablecoin ecosystem.”
In an earlier, November 16 letter to Lummis and Hill, Ardoino wrote that “Tether has collaborated/worked with law enforcement agencies in 19 jurisdictions globally to assist in investigations of illicit activity, including terrorist financing.”
“In particular, Tether has regularly cooperated with the Department of Justice in a number of investigations and has frozen USDT addresses at their request,” he stated. “As a result, Tether has frozen over 800 million USDT in secondary market addresses, the majority of which was connected to thefts, particularly blockchain and exchange hacks. Specifically, Tether has helped the DOJ with 68 separate requests, resulting in the freezing of 188 addresses, holding ~70,000,000 USDT at the time of freezing.”
Tether has also worked with “Israel’s anti-terrorist financing agency” and authorities in Ukraine.
On X, news of Tether’s involvement with the government is raising alarm bells.
“Are they bragging about that?!” asked one incredulous user.
“Blink twice if you are in trouble,” suggested another.
“Oh look,” said a third, “nothing to see here.”
Are they bragging about that?!
— Jeff Darling (@jeffld) December 17, 2023
Blink twice if you are in trouble pic.twitter.com/O7EHObA5Rw
— SuperCryptoBro.eth (@5uperCryptoBro) December 16, 2023
Oh look nothing to see here https://t.co/z0iq9Ajk7u
— Quickbit (@_Quickbit_) December 17, 2023
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
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