Tether CEO says Senate Iran report ignores 94% volume drop

Key points

• Ardoino says a Senate Democrats report ignored Tether's sanctions work
• He claims Iran-linked stablecoin volumes fell 94% after freezes
• Report cited 84% of 846 sanctioned wallets using USDT, per Reuters
• Blumenthal also probing Tether's ties to Cantor Fitzgerald

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said on Monday that a Senate Democrats’ report linking the company’s USDT stablecoin to Iran’s shadow banking network ignored its sanctions-compliance work, which he credited with a 94% decline in Iran-linked stablecoin volumes, according to CoinDesk.

What the Senate report alleged

Democratic staff on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, released the report on Sept. 28, according to CoinDesk. It described Tether as providing “a significant financial lifeline” within Iran’s shadow banking network. It also said Tether did not comprehensively freeze flagged wallets before 2024.

Reuters-syndicated coverage of the release said the review covered 846 sanctioned crypto wallets and found that about 84% of them had transacted in USDT. That coverage noted the findings reflect the conclusions of the subcommittee’s Democratic minority investigators, not a bipartisan finding of the full Senate. Blumenthal called on the Treasury and Justice departments to investigate Tether.

Ardoino’s response

In a post on X, Ardoino said that since 2023 Tether has frozen suspicious addresses roughly four weeks before they were designated by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, and before blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis labeled them in 99% of cases, according to CoinDesk’s account. He tied that work to the 94% drop in Iran-linked volumes. The figures are Ardoino’s claims; CoinDesk’s summary did not indicate independent verification.

Speaking at DC Fintech Week, Ardoino also criticized the way the report was released to the media before Tether had a chance to review it, CoinDesk reported. He said the compliance work “is not finished” and that he is confident the company is doing the right thing.

After the report appeared, Ardoino rejected its conclusions, saying USDT is “not a haven for sanctioned actors, terrorist organizations or criminal networks,” according to a summary of the coverage. Tether has said its actions supported nearly $550 million in Iran-linked asset freezes during 2026. CoinDesk separately reported in April on a $344 million USDT freeze linked to U.S. economic pressure on Iran.

Wider scrutiny and what comes next

Blumenthal has also widened his inquiry to Tether’s U.S. financial partner, Cantor Fitzgerald. On Oct. 8 he sent a letter to Cantor chairman Brandon Lutnick requesting records on the firm’s earnings from Tether, its custody services and its monitoring of possible sanctions violations. He had earlier written to Tether in June seeking records on USDT’s role in Iranian and Russian shadow-banking networks.

The report was produced by the minority party, so it carries no binding authority. Whether the Treasury or Justice departments act on Blumenthal’s request is unclear; the coverage reviewed reported no outcome of any such investigation. CoinDesk noted that prediction-market odds on Kalshi for Democrats regaining Senate control have risen. A change in majority would give Blumenthal and his colleagues greater investigative powers, including subpoena authority.

Tether named Bo Hines, a former White House crypto adviser to President Donald Trump, as CEO of its U.S. division last fall, according to CoinDesk.