Tether CEO rebuts Senate claims on Iran wallet freezes

6.8 Regulation

Oct 19, 2026

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino disputes Senate claims, stating Tether froze Iran-linked wallets weeks before official sanctions and before Chainalysis, leading to a 94% drop in related stablecoin volumes.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has pushed back against Senate reports questioning the company’s compliance with Iran sanctions. Ardoino claims Tether froze flagged addresses, on average, four weeks before they were officially designated by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing since 2023. He also asserts that in 99% of cases, Tether acted before blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis identified the addresses. Senate investigators found that 84% of 846 Iran-linked wallets used USDT exclusively or nearly exclusively. Tether reported blocking about $550 million in USDT tied to Iran in 2023, with most freezes occurring in two large batches. Ardoino attributes a 94% drop in Iran-linked stablecoin volumes to Tether’s enforcement actions and cooperation with law enforcement. However, the Senate report highlighted delays in freezing 34 Hezbollah-linked addresses and called for further scrutiny of Tether’s sanctions and anti-money-laundering procedures. The main issue remains the timing and effectiveness of Tether’s compliance efforts.