{"id":175438,"date":"2023-10-17T02:21:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T20:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/?p=175438"},"modified":"2023-10-17T02:21:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T20:51:02","slug":"tether-freezes-wallets-linked-to-terrorist-groups-in-israel-and-ukraine-crypto-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/tether-freezes-wallets-linked-to-terrorist-groups-in-israel-and-ukraine-crypto-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Tether Freezes Wallets Linked to Terrorist Groups in Israel and Ukraine &#8211; Crypto News"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"position:relative;overflow:visible;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.58\">\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">Tether, the world\u2019s largest stablecoin issuer, has announced a freeze on 32 blockchain addresses with connections to terrorist groups in both Israel and Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">In a Monday <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/tether.to\/en\/tether-freezes-32-addresses-linked-to-terrorism-and-warfare-in-israel-and-ukraine\/\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 ePvUAp\">statement<\/a>, the company said it has been combatting crypto-funded crime in collaboration with Israel\u2019s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF). In total, the frozen addresses hold $873,118.34 worth of assets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">\u201cTether\u2019s ability to freeze and return stolen funds to legitimate users demonstrates the innovative new capabilities and level of security that blockchain technologies can bring to the global financial system,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">Unlike more traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), stablecoins\u2014such as Tether\u2019s USDT\u2014are directly issued by centralized entities, and backed by centralized reserves of real-world assets. In practice, that means users holding stablecoins can be programmatically frozen out of their money at government request, much like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/93293\/canada-convoy-protestor-funds-freeze-bitcoin\/\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 ePvUAp\">traditional bank deposits<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">Tether has previously used its powers to freeze millions of dollars lost to both <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/56779\/tether-freezes-profits-yearn-finance-hack\/\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 ePvUAp\">DeFi hackers<\/a> and phishing scammers. However, it <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/108138\/despite-us-sanctions-tether-continues-to-support-tornado-cash-report\/\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 ePvUAp\">refused<\/a> to freeze addresses tied to privacy protocol Tornado Cash after the U.S. Treasury placed sanctions on it last year, despite rival stablecoin issuer Circle opting to comply with the sanctions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">Altogether, Tether has complied with 31 different agencies across the world from nations like the United States, Canada, Brazil, South Korea, and others to freeze over $835 million in criminal-connected crypto to date.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">\u201cContrary to popular belief, cryptocurrency transactions are not anonymous; they are the most traceable and trackable assets,\u201d explained Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino in a statement. \u201cCriminals foolish enough to employ cryptocurrencies for illegal activities will inevitably be identified.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">Following deadly attacks from Hamas against Israel earlier this month, Israeli authorities <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/200837\/israel-authorities-freeze-hamas-linked-crypto-accounts-binance\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 ePvUAp\">froze<\/a> crypto accounts suspected of being connected to Hamas, including those on crypto exchanges like Binance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">Data from Chainalysis <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chainalysis.com\/blog\/terrorism-financing-cryptocurrency-2019\/\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 ePvUAp\">indicates<\/a> that crypto has helped Hamas secure tens of thousands of dollars in Bitcoin donations since 2019. Pro-Russian groups in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have also used over $2 million raised in Bitcoin and Ethereum to help <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/106255\/russia-crypto-donations-bitcoin-ethereum-fund-war\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 ePvUAp\">fund<\/a> their war effort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><i>Edited by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/author\/stacy\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 ePvUAp\">Stacy Elliott<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"my-4 border-b border-decryptGridline\">\n<div class=\"text-left p-8 md:py-12 md:px-12 max-w-prose relative\"><span class=\"border-t-4 border-l-4 w-4 h-4 md:border-t-[6px] md:border-l-[6px] md:w-6 md:h-6 border-decryptPurple dark:border-decryptNeon gg-dark:border-cc-pink-2 absolute top-4 left-4 md:top-6 md:left-6\" \/><span class=\"border-t-4 border-l-4 w-4 h-4 md:border-t-[6px] md:border-l-[6px] md:w-6 md:h-6 border-decryptPurple dark:border-decryptNeon gg-dark:border-cc-pink-2 absolute rotate-180 bottom-4 right-4 md:bottom-6 md:right-6\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"font-akzidenz-grotesk font-bold text-xl md:text-3xl mb-6 md:text-center gg-dark:text-white\">Stay on top of crypto news, get daily updates in your inbox.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tether, the world\u2019s largest stablecoin issuer, has announced a freeze on 32 blockchain addresses with connections to terrorist groups in both Israel and Ukraine. In a Monday statement, the company said it has been combatting crypto-funded crime in collaboration with Israel\u2019s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF). In total, the frozen addresses hold $873,118.34 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[230,225,221,227,226,228,229,60,223,224,222],"class_list":["post-175438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-brave","tag-coinbase","tag-crypto","tag-decentralised","tag-decentralized","tag-decentralized-exchange","tag-erc-20","tag-featured","tag-meme-coin","tag-robinhood","tag-solana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175438"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175441,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175438\/revisions\/175441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}