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Tether, the company behind the issuance of USDT, the largest stablecoin, has blacklisted more than 30 addresses that have received billions in USDT since their first use. According to blockchain intelligence firm Chainargos, the blacklisted addresses had received $161 million from Whitebit, a European exchange with Ukrainian roots.
Tether Blacklists Over 30 USDT Addresses That Have Moved Billions
Tether, the company that issues USDT, the largest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market, has recently blacklisted more than 30 addresses that moved billions in USDT. Chainargos, a blockchain security firm, unveiled the move first on X, revealing that 28 of these addresses were frozen on December 1, in one of the most significant operations of this kind for the company.
The firm stated that $161 million of the funds transacted by these addresses came from Whitebit, a European exchange founded in Ukraine. Chainargos also revealed that many of these addresses were used to move STUSDT, a token received by users after staking USDT.
In August, Chainargos registered movements in 10,000 wallets that featured transactions moving $1 to $10 in STUSDT, calling this a “programmatic spamming” operation.
On December 2, six more wallet addresses were frozen, having moved over $10 million and containing assets accounting for approximately $1 million. The company stated that many frozen wallets were also linked to STUSDT movements.
Tether has not issued any statements on the motives behind these movements. The stablecoin company has been collaborating with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), voluntarily freezing $225 million linked to human trafficking groups located in Southeast Asia in November, calling this operation the “largest-ever freeze of USDT.”
Also, in November, the company blocked $9 million in assets stolen via pig butchering scams that affected around 70 victims. This investigation involved the DOJ and the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), which traced the victim’s deposits as they were being laundered using different blockchains.
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