U.S. authorities are seizing $61 million in crypto assets tied to an Iranian oil laundering scheme, with Tether set to destroy and reissue tokens to facilitate government custody.
Tether is directly involved as the stablecoin issuer whose tokens are being seized and reissued to U.S. custody.
Federal prosecutors in New York have filed a civil forfeiture complaint targeting $61 million in cryptocurrency allegedly laundered by Chinese firms to support Iranian oil sales. The scheme involved funneling proceeds to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps through Binance accounts and unhosted wallets, prompting Tether to assist in the recovery of assets.
Tether is cooperating by destroying the specific tokens held in flagged addresses and minting an equivalent amount of new tokens to be transferred into U.S. government custody.