Earlier, US authorities also accused Tether of facilitating fundraising for Hamas terrorists

FT: UN identifies USDT as one of the most popular money laundering tools in Asia

15.01.2024 - 13:46

167

2 min

What’s new? UN experts in a new report named the USDT stablecoin from the Tether issuer as one of the most popular money laundering tools in Southeast Asia. The organization specified that the stablecoin is actively used by illegal online casinos, as well as organizers of fraudulent schemes, including so-called romantic scams.

Material by FT

What else is known? At the same time, the report says that law enforcement agencies in recent years have actively suppressed the activities of money laundering networks, including those using USDT. For example, in August last year, the authorities in Singapore dismantled one such network, confiscating $735 million in cash and cryptocurrency.

In addition, last November, Tether reported its participation in the US Department of Justice’s operation that resulted in the freezing of 225 million USDT linked to scams on the South Asian trafficking group’s external wallets.

Earlier, the US authorities also drew attention that USDT could be used to finance terrorism and carry out other illegal activities. Tether denied the accusations. And later blocked all wallets from the US Treasury Department’s sanctions list and connected the FBI and the Secret Service to its platform.

Analysts also pointed to the growing popularity of the TRON blockchain among terrorists. USDT is also issued on this network.

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Earlier, the non-profit organization Campaign for Accountability said that Palestinian groups are actively using USDC on the TRON blockchain

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According to The Block, the share of USDT in the total supply of stablecoins increased from 50% to 71% over the year. The capitalization of the asset exceeds $95 billion.

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