Tether argued further that it has contributed to freezing the assets of users involved in scams or found to be violating the US Treasury's sanctions lists, and noted that all of its transactions, like many cryptocurrencies, can be publicly observed on blockchains-in other words, the observability that made Chainalysis's report possible.
Tether Holdings has more flatly denied other reports of Tether's use in crime and sanctions evasion.
In contrast to most cryptocurrencies, Tether does have the capability to freeze user funds, and it said in the October blog post that since its launch in 2014, it had frozen $835 million in funds deemed to be tied to illicit activities.
Chainalysis' Fierman says that Tether's efforts to freeze criminal funds are having an impact, and more enforcement could help end stablecoins' exploitation by criminals.
Despite Tether's ability to freeze funds, Chainalysis' data suggests that illicit use of stablecoins has so far dwarfed those seizures.
West, the prosecutor, notes that most Tether associated with crime is cashed out for another currency long before anyone identifies it.
That means Tether hasn't yet come close to solving the underlying problem.
Updated at 9:45 am ET, January 18, 2024, to correctly identify prosecutor Erin West's professional title and at 2:45 pm ET with a statement from Tether Holdings.
This Cyber News was published on www.wired.com. Publication date: Thu, 18 Jan 2024 14:43:05 +0000