Tether freezes $344M linked funds
- Tether blacklisted two Tron wallets holding about $344 million in USDt on April 24, and U.S. Treasury officials linked the freeze to Iran as Washington widened crypto sanctions pressure. - The blocked wallets held roughly $172 million each, while U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds pulled in about $1.49 billion from April 17 through April 24, led by BlackRock’s IBIT. - The split-screen is compliance on one side and fresh regulated demand on the other, with Metaplanet adding an ¥8 billion bitcoin funding round. (farside.co.uk)
Tether froze about $344 million in USDt in two Tron wallets on April 24, and U.S. officials said the funds were tied to Iran. (coindesk.com) (yahoo.com) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States was sanctioning multiple crypto wallets linked to Tehran one day after Tether blacklisted the addresses. The two Tron wallets held a combined $344 million in USDt. (yahoo.com) (beincrypto.com) TRM Labs said the April 24 action targeted addresses connected to the Central Bank of Iran. Coindesk reported Bessent framed the move as part of a push to cut off the regime’s financial lifelines. (crowdfundinsider.com) (coindesk.com) At the same time, money kept moving into regulated bitcoin products in the United States. Farside Investors data show U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds took in about $1.49 billion between April 17 and April 24. (farside.co.uk) (example.com)) BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, known as IBIT, led several of those sessions, including $246.9 million on April 22 and $167.5 million on April 23. The group’s net inflow slowed to $14.4 million on April 24. (farside.co.uk) In Tokyo, Metaplanet said it issued ¥8 billion, or about $50 million, in zero-interest bonds to buy more bitcoin. The entire offering was bought by EVO Fund, and the notes mature on April 23, 2027. (coindesk.com) (gncrypto.news) The freeze shows how a stablecoin can work like a bank account with an off switch when an issuer cooperates with law enforcement. The ETF inflows and Metaplanet bond sale show institutions are still using regulated wrappers to add bitcoin exposure. (coindesk.com) (farside.co.uk) (coindesk.com) That leaves crypto markets in two lanes at once on April 26: enforcement tightened around sanctioned wallets, while regulated funds and listed companies kept buying the asset underneath. (yahoo.com) (farside.co.uk) (coindesk.com)
