Tether freezes over $500 million in cryptocurrency at the request of Turkish authorities, blocking funds linked to an alleged illegal online betting and money-laundering scheme. The company aided officials in a crackdown on underground gambling and payment networks, resulting in over $1 billion in seized assets in Turkey.

Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle have blacklisted about 5,700 wallets containing approximately $2.5 billion, with three-quarters of those wallets holding USDT at the time they were frozen. Tether has assisted in over 1,800 investigations worldwide, leading to $3.4 billion in frozen USDT tied to suspected criminal activities.

Tether’s USDt reached a record $187.3 billion market capitalization in Q4 2025, growing by $12.4 billion despite a broader crypto downturn. Monthly active USDt wallets increased to 24.8 million, accounting for 70% of all stablecoin-holding addresses, while quarterly transfer volume hit $4.4 trillion across 2.2 billion transactions.

Read more at Cointelegraph: Tether Freezes $544M in Crypto Tied to Turkish Illegal Betting Probe