Tether Freezes $835 Million in Illicit Assets, Focuses on Israel and Ukraine

<p>Tether, the
world's largest stablecoin company, is intensifying its efforts to curb the
illegal use of cryptocurrencies for funding terrorism and other criminal
activities. The company has been actively cooperating with law enforcement
agencies worldwide, recently addressing mainly armed conflict in Ukraine and
Israel. As a result, it has frozen $835 million in assets, primarily related to
thefts and exchange hacks. </p><p>Tether's Global Effort to
Thwart Criminal Activities</p><p>Tether has
so far assisted 31 law enforcement agencies across 19 countries, including the
United States, Brazil, and Germany, among others. The company has frozen a
total of $835 million in assets, primarily related to theft as in <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/b/blockchain/">blockchain</a>
and exchange hacks. A smaller portion of the frozen assets is linked to other
types of crimes.</p><p>The company
has specifically frozen 32 addresses containing approximately $873,118, which
were identified as being involved in illegal activities in <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/israel/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Israel </a>and Ukraine.
Tether has been collaborating with the National Bureau for Counter Terror
Financing in Israel to counteract cryptocurrency-funded terrorism.</p><p>While the
$835 million frozen by Tether represents a small fraction of the $445 billion
lost globally to cybercrime, it showcases the potential of blockchain
technology in enhancing security within the financial system. According to
Tether, the ability to freeze and return stolen funds to their rightful owners
is an innovative feature that traditional financial systems often lack.</p><p>Paolo
Ardoino, the newly appointed CEO of Tether, emphasized that contrary to popular
belief that cryptocurrency transactions are far from anonymous. He noted that the
blockchain records every transaction, making tracing fund movements and
identifying criminals easier.</p><p>"Consequently,
criminals foolish enough to employ <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/cryptocurrencies/">cryptocurrencies</a> for illegal activities will
inevitably be identified," Ardoino added. The new CEO was appointed just a
few days ago, and the company officially announced it on 13 October. He began
his journey in the cryptocurrency market in 2014 at Bitfinex where he works as the CTO. According to the official press release, he will continue to hold this
position.</p><p>Israel Seizes Crypto
Donations to Hamas</p><p>As the
conflict between Israel and Gaza escalates, Israel Police's Lahav 433 cyber
unit concentrates on disrupting <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/israel-strikes-on-hamas-financial-backbone-seizes-crypto-donations/" target="_blank" rel="follow">the financial channels supporting Hamas</a>.
The unit collaborates with various intelligence agencies, including the
Ministry of Defense's National Headquarters for Economic Combating Terrorism
and the General Security Service. This initiative was triggered by
Hamas' public fundraising campaign on social media, which sought cryptocurrency
donations due to heavy economic sanctions.</p><p>Since the war broke out, Israeli law enforcement has closed over 100 crypto exchange accounts on Binance linked to Hamas, the Financial Times reported recently. The authorities are still seeking information on up to 200 additional crypto accounts, most of which are on Binance.</p><p><a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/trending/hamas-using-bitcoin-to-fund-war-againstisrael/" target="_blank" rel="follow">While the
exact amount raised is unknown</a>, it's worth noting that US authorities imposed
sanctions on Hamas' investment office in 2022, which reportedly had assets of
$500 million. According to UN estimates, cryptocurrency accounts for 20%, a
significant amount of global terror funding. </p><p><a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/israels-crypto-community-rallies-in-humanitarian-effort-amid-gaza-war/" target="_blank" rel="follow">In a
parallel development</a>, Israeli crypto and web3 communities have initiated a
humanitarian campaign to assist Israeli citizens impacted by the ongoing
conflict financially. Similar fundraising efforts were observed last year <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/ukraine-raises-money-through-crypto-russia-circumventing-sanctions-with-digital-assets/" target="_blank" rel="follow">when
Russia attacked Ukraine</a>.</p>

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.