Tether CEO says wallet freezes cut Iran-linked stablecoin volumes 94%

What happened

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino responded on October 19 to a U.S. Senate report, saying Tether's wallet freeze program cut Iran-linked stablecoin transaction volume by 94% since 2023. He posted the figures on X.

Ardoino said Tether froze relevant addresses about four weeks before official designations by the U.S. Treasury's OFAC and Israel's NBCTF. He also said Tether acted before Chainalysis labeled the addresses in 99% of cases.

The statement answers a September 28 Democratic staff report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. That report found 84% of 846 flagged Iran-linked wallets transacted almost exclusively in USDT.

Why it matters

The dispute matters because USDT is the largest stablecoin. It commands a $183 billion market cap and holds over 60% of the stablecoin market, so Senate scrutiny carries headline risk for that position.

Tether's freeze record is also part of a wider U.S. campaign. Washington launched Operation Economic Outcast in August 2026, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it targets roughly $1 billion in Iran-linked crypto assets for seizure. Those assets have not been officially confirmed as frozen.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who led the probe, has asked the Treasury and Justice departments to investigate Tether's anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance practices. He has not responded publicly to the 94% claim.

What the data shows

Third-party data supports the direction of Ardoino's claim. According to TRM Labs, USDT's share of on-chain volume in Iran-attributed wallets fell from 67% in 2025 to 14% by August 2026.

Tether says it froze roughly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT in 2026 alone, including $344 million in April and $130 million in July. It previously froze wallets tied to Iranian exchange Wallex and other sanctioned platforms.

Iran's Central Bank accumulated $507 million in USDT to prop up the rial, the report says. Tether's compliance posture is therefore central to any discussion of USDT's role in sanctioned economies.

What is still unclear

• The supplied information does not establish the measurement period, baseline transaction volume, or methodology behind the 94% figure, and the statement alone does not show how much of the decline came from freezes.
• Blumenthal's report alleges Tether failed to freeze illicit wallets consistently before 2024 and did not proactively block other clearly illicit addresses.

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