Tether froze more than $1.5 billion in USDT within 30 minutes of the October 29 Binance hack, blocking access to funds linked to North Korean hackers. The FBI later attributed the $6.3 billion theft to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group.
In a November 2 announcement, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company moved quickly to restrict the funds and limit further losses.
Tether Targets North Korean Crypto Theft
Ardoino said the response showed why criminals should avoid using USDT. Tether works with more than 360 law enforcement agencies across 73 countries to investigate illicit transactions.
Related: Binance Completes New Proof of Reserves as Hack Recovery Reaches 95%
By October 31, the company had helped U.S. authorities freeze approximately 1.6 billion USDT across 3,590 wallets. Its enforcement efforts have also resulted in more than $7 billion in secondary-market freezes and the return of roughly $1.2 billion to victims and law enforcement agencies.
Tether Reports Other Major Freezes
Tether has also targeted funds linked to other investigations. Its Iran-related freezes included $344 million in April and another $130 million in July, bringing the year’s total to nearly $550 million.
The company also blocked approximately $23 million linked to sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex. On November 2, it froze another $4.5 million connected to the Mercado Bitcoin security incident in Brazil.
Separately, Tether reported $1.5 billion in third-quarter operating profit, while its reserve buffer nearly doubled to $7.95 billion.
Related: Your Crypto Wallet Could Be a Target: AI-Powered Malware Is on the Rise
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