Stablecoin issuer Tether shrugs off Tornado Cash sanctions, won't freeze addresses

Tether, the blockchain company behind the dollar-pegged stablecoin tether (USDT-USD), is sticking to its decision on not freezing Tornado Cash addresses and is waiting for instructions from law enforcement, according to a release Wednesday.The company emphasized that "unilaterally freezing secondary market addresses could be a highly disruptive and reckless move by Tether," it said.So far, U.S. authorities have not requested Tether to prohibit Tornado Cash addresses. It will only do so if the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control, the government agency that sanctioned the addresses associated with cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, gives the green light.Recall earlier in August when the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash over its alleged use in laundering virtual currency stolen by North Korean hackers.Shortly after the sanctioning, Circle, the issuer of stablecoin USD Coin (USDC-USD), blacklisted Tornado Cash smart contracts, but that move was "premature and might have jeopardized the work of other regulators and law enforcement agencies around the world,” Tether said.In July, Binance reportedly provided years of service for Iranian traders despite U.S. sanctions.