Funds frozen within 30 minutes of the attack, which the FBI has attributed to North Korea, cutting off a key source of funding for its weapons programme
2 November 2026 – Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry, froze more than $1.5 billion in USD₮ within 30 minutes of the 29 October Binance hack, keeping those funds out of the reach of North Korea, which the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified as responsible for the attack.
By moving quickly, Tether stopped the funds before they could be transferred, swapped or laundered. U.S. authorities have repeatedly warned that crypto theft is a key source of funding for North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
“We have always said that USD₮ is the worst possible choice for criminals, and the Binance’ hack response shows why,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “Within minutes of the hack, our team had frozen more than $1.5 billion. The FBI has confirmed North Korea was behind the attack. Proactivity and speed are built into how we operate. We work hard every day to protect users and the wider digital asset ecosystem. Anyone who thinks USD₮ is a good place to hide stolen funds should think again.”
“In a crisis like this, minutes matter, and Tether responded in minutes,” said Bo Hines, CEO of Tether USA₮. “We moved immediately and stopped more than $1.5 billion from reaching the people behind this attack. That is a direct contribution to U.S. and global security. Protecting users, supporting law enforcement and keeping illicit money out of the financial system is central to how Tether operates, and it is why Tether is trusted to act when it matters most.”
Tether works closely with U.S. and international law enforcement and industry partners to track illicit funds, support efforts to bring those responsible to justice and help prevent future attacks.
A Track Record of Swift Action
The Binance response is the latest in a long line of rapid interventions by Tether. Working with law enforcement, Tether can freeze funds while they are still within reach, before they disappear.
That speed also protects users. In April 2026, when hackers linked to North Korea stole around $285 million from the Drift exchange, Tether committed $127.5 million to help affected users. Where other issuers can take days or weeks to act, Tether moves in minutes, both to stop stolen funds and to support the people affected.
In the same month, acting on information from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and U.S. law enforcement, Tether froze more than $344 million in USD₮ across two addresses. OFAC designated those addresses as Central Bank of Iran identifiers the following day. In July, Tether froze a further $130 million across four wallets as Treasury expanded its designations, bringing Tether’s Iran-linked freezes this year to nearly $550 million. Tether has also taken action against sanctioned Russian activity, freezing around $23 million linked to the Garantex exchange with the U.S. Secret Service.
Built to Support U.S. Sanctions and Law Enforcement
Tether applies a wallet-freezing policy aligned with OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. The policy is not only forward-looking, but it is an industry-setting example of our abilities and productivity. For example, during the recent misinformation campaign against Tether, related to the Blumenthal report, the Company froze 99% of the addresses on the reported list before even one of the main blockchain analytics firms, Chainalysis, tagged those as belonging to Iran..
Tether works with more than 360 law enforcement agencies across 73 countries to assist investigations into illicit activity, including terrorist financing. The FBI and the U.S. Secret Service have been onboarded to Tether’s platform, and as of 31 October 2026, Tether had helped freeze more than 3,590 wallets holding approximately 1.6 billion USD₮ for the U.S. Department of Justice, Secret Service and FBI.
In total, Tether has frozen more than 7 billion USD₮ in secondary market addresses (including the Binance freezes), most of it connected to fraud and thefts, particularly DeFi and exchange hacks. Approximately 1.2 billion USD₮ obtained through fraud and theft has been returned to its rightful owners and to law enforcement through reissuance.
Learn more about Tether’s role in U.S. and global financial markets at TetherFacts.com.
