Tether Scrutiny Reignited as US Senate Report Claims 84% of Sanctioned Wallets Used Stablecoin
A US Senate minority staff report has reignited scrutiny of Tether, claiming that 84% of 846 cryptocurrency wallets previously sanctioned by the US or Israel for Iranian ties used the stablecoin.
The report, which analyzed wallets from June 2021 to August 2026, found that most of them operated almost exclusively through Tether (USDT).
US Senator Richard Blumenthal, who authored the report, has requested that US Treasury and Justice Department officials investigate Tether's anti-money laundering controls and compliance with sanctions.
Tether has responded by stating that it has cooperated in the freezing of nearly $550 million in USDT linked to Iran this year alone, including $344 million from two wallets designated by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in April and over $131 million from four TRON network wallets associated with the Iranian central bank.
The report highlights the complex role that centralized stablecoins like Tether play in global financial infrastructure, where their widespread adoption makes them attractive to those seeking to evade sanctions but also allows authorities to intervene and freeze funds on a large scale.