Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino says the company's wallet freezes have cut Iran-linked stablecoin transaction volumes by 94% since 2023. He is rebutting a Senate subcommittee report that found USDT in sanctioned Iran wallets. TRM Labs data points in the same direction.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino pushed back against a U.S. Senate report on October 19, claiming the company's proactive wallet freeze program has driven a 94% drop in Iran-linked stablecoin transaction volumes since 2023.
What the 94% claim rests on
Ardoino posted the figures on X, saying Tether froze relevant addresses an average of four weeks before official designations by the U.S. Treasury's OFAC. He added that in 99% of cases, Tether acted before Chainalysis even labeled the addresses.
Third-party data backs the direction of his claim. According to TRM Labs, USDT's share of on-chain volume in Iran-attributed wallets fell from 67% in 2025 to 14% by August 2026.
In 2026 alone, Tether froze roughly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT, including $344 million in April and $130 million in July.
The Senate report Ardoino is answering
The statement responds to a September 28 Democratic staff report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. That report concluded that 84% of 846 flagged Iran-linked wallets transacted almost exclusively in USDT, and it described the stablecoin as a "significant financial lifeline" for Iran's shadow banking network.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, who led the subcommittee probe, has not responded publicly to Ardoino's 94% claim.
Washington's wider Iran push
Meanwhile, the sanctions campaign continues. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated Washington is targeting roughly $1 billion in Iran-linked crypto assets for seizure as part of Operation Economic Outcast, launched in August 2026. Those assets have not been officially confirmed as frozen.
CoinGape notes that Ardoino's latest figures, if independently verified, suggest the stablecoin's exposure to that risk has narrowed sharply.
Source: CoinGape
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