Terrorist financing? Tether responds to demand for criminal prosecution

Tether wants to become a model company in the US. The publisher of stablecoins cooperates with many U.S. authorities and proactively fights suspicious accounts.

Late October spoke U.S. politicians Cynthia Lummis and French Hill addressed the U.S. Treasury Department and called for criminal charges against Tether and Binance. The reason: terrorist financing.

According to Lummis and Hill, the Justice Department should investigate "the extent to which Binance and Tether provide material support and resources to support terrorism through violations of applicable sanctions laws and the Bank Secrecy Act."

The stablecoin company Tether has now responded to this demand, stating that it wants to "cooperate closely with U.S. authorities."

Tether has KYC policies, a transaction monitoring system and a "proactive approach" to identify suspicious accounts and activity, according to a press release.

The company has also introduced a voluntary policy to freeze suspicious addresses, according to a statement of December 9.

The number of frozen assets has increased significantly since 2020. According to its own information, Tether has frozen USDT 435 million so far.

In addition, CEO Paolo Ardoino explained, the company is working with the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI to implement anti-money laundering guidelines.

In mid-November, the publisher of stablecoins supported the U.S. Department of Justice against a human trafficking syndicate - seizing $225 million.