Tether and Senate Democrats Clash Over Iran's Shadow Crypto Network

Tether then highlighted several freeze occurrences where the company worked with law enforcement officials to stop illicit flows. Additionally, Tether said it works with Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF).

“Together, those actions amount to approximately $550 million in Iran-linked $USDT frozen in 2026 alone,” the company claims.

$USDT Dominates Findings as Tether CEO Rejects Report’s Premise

The subcommittee’s analysis also notes that in addition to $USDT, Iran-based groups are also leveraging bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), TRX, and other altcoins. Circle’s $USDC stablecoin was a different story, the report details.

“$USDT’s largest competitor, $USDC—the dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by the second-largest stablecoin issuer Circle—was extremely limited in the Subcommittee’s analysis,” the 24-page study declares.

While the report does discuss bitcoin, other altcoins, and stablecoins, it is largely focused on Tether’s $USDT stablecoin. In the company blog post posted on Monday morning, Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino appeared to wholeheartedly disagree with the report’s premise.

“Tether has consistently demonstrated that $USDT is not a haven for sanctioned actors, terrorist organizations or criminal networks,” Ardoino insisted in the Tether blog post.