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XMR$618.57Tether CEO Hits Back at Senate Iran Report: Froze 4 Weeks Early
Paolo Ardoino rebutted Sen. Blumenthal's Iran report: Tether froze addresses on average 4 weeks before sanctions, and Iran-linked stablecoin volumes fell 94%, he says.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino on Monday, Oct. 19, pushed back on Sen. Richard Blumenthal's report linking USDT to Iran. In a post on X (1:56 PM ET) he said the senator's analysis misses that, since 2023, Tether has frozen addresses on average four weeks before official OFAC and NBCTF sanctions designations, and in 99% of cases before Chainalysis labeled them. Ardoino says Tether's actions cut Iran-linked stablecoin volumes by 94%.
Details
The report, "Tethered to Terrorism: Crypto & Iran's Shadow Banking Network," was produced by the minority staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and released in late September. As Decrypt reported, 84% of 846 wallets sanctioned or targeted for seizure over links to Iran and its proxies transacted exclusively or almost exclusively in USDT. Two Iranian oil smugglers moved more than $603 million through the stablecoin in 2021–2025, according to the report. Blumenthal called USDT a "superhighway" for sanctions evasion.
Tether has previously said it froze about $550 million of USDT in 2026 on wallets US authorities tie to Iran, and about $4.9 billion across cases with more than 340 agencies worldwide. Ardoino's new figures (four weeks, 99%, 94%) are the company's own claims; the sources offer no independent confirmation. The report also argues that before 2024 Tether did not "comprehensively and consistently" freeze wallets listed by counter-terrorism agencies.
What it means for the market
This is a war of words, not a regulatory action: neither Treasury nor the Justice Department has announced an investigation based on the report. Pressure on the USDT issuer is building on several fronts, though: earlier this month Blumenthal demanded records from Cantor Fitzgerald, which holds part of Tether's reserves, with a reply due Oct. 23. Follow the market in the daily summary and on the USDT page.
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