Tether Accused by U.S. Senate Democrats of Being Iran Regime's 'Financial Lifeline'

BlockBeats news, September 29: Democratic lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report on September 28, alleging that Tether's stablecoin USDT has become an important funding channel for Iran's shadow banking network, helping the Iranian government evade international sanctions. The report said the Iranian government processed an estimated $20 billion in transactions through related networks last year, but did not disclose the specific amount involving USDT.

The report also accused Tether of failing to freeze Iran-related wallets in a timely manner, with some freezing actions taking weeks, and of failing to proactively block some wallets suspected of illegal activity. The report said USDT has become an important financial lifeline for Iran's shadow banking network.

In response, Tether said the same day that it had helped freeze nearly $550 million in Iran-related USDT, and said it has maintained direct cooperation with law enforcement agencies in the United States and other countries to help identify and freeze illicit funds.