Tether, the issuer of USDT, has frozen assets linked to illegal activities totaling approximately $4.2 billion in collaboration with law enforcement agencies.

The company announced this following recognition from the U.S. Department of Justice for its assistance in disrupting a "pig butchering" fraud scheme. During an operation in North Carolina, nearly $61 million in funds belonging to the perpetrators were seized.

"This step underscores Tether's commitment to lead in the digital asset industry by adhering to all legal requirements and acting transparently, helping law enforcement worldwide prevent cryptocurrency-related crimes," Tether stated.

According to analytics firm Elliptic, by the end of 2025, stablecoin issuers, primarily Tether and Circle, had blacklisted around 5,700 wallets holding approximately $2.5 billion. About three-quarters of these addresses contained USDT at the time of freezing.

In February, the issuer assisted in the seizure of digital assets worth $544 million at the request of U.S. authorities.

Tether clarified that it has directly interacted with over 310 agencies across 64 countries.

The company highlighted several instances of assistance to law enforcement in 2025, including:

  • freezing and reissuing 1.6 million USDT linked to terrorism financing in Gaza at the request of the U.S. Treasury;
  • participating in the blocking of $6.2 million in a cross-border money laundering scheme via Klever Wallet in cooperation with Brazilian authorities;
  • confiscation by government agents in Oklahoma City of approximately $225 million from operators of the "pig butchering" scheme;
  • seizure by the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) of $23 million from the sanctioned exchange Garantex;
  • arrest by Thai police and USSS of about $12 million obtained from a transnational fraud network.

The market capitalization of USDT is around $183.7 billion. Tether's flagship token dominates the stablecoin segment, which has a total volume of $311.5 billion.

Source: CoinGecko.

The market supply of its main competitor, USDC, is slightly over $75.2 billion. However, in 2025, Circle's coin surpassed USDT in terms of value transferred—$17.3 trillion compared to $12.9 trillion.

In January 2026, the total value of stablecoin transactions surged to a record $10.5 trillion. USDC accounted for $8.3 trillion, while USDT accounted for $1.7 trillion.

As a reminder, Tether's net profit for the previous year exceeded $10 billion. The company has accumulated a reserve of 148 tons of physical gold, according to Jefferies.