Tether freezes crypto wallets on sanctions list

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Stablecoin issuer Tether froze wallets of sanctioned persons listed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, crypto media outfits Decrypt and Rug Radio agreed to merge, and software cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask added to its global partnerships. Read on!

Tether freezes wallets on sanctions list

Issuer of the USDT stablecoin Tether strengthened its cooperation with global regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies by initiating a new policy to freeze wallets associated with a list of sanctioned persons, it said in a blog post.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said: “By executing voluntary wallet address freezing of new additions to the SDN List and freezing previously added addresses, we will be able to further strengthen the positive usage of stablecoin technology and promote a safer stablecoin ecosystem for all users.”

Tether said it implemented controls on the secondary market to freeze activities connected with sanctioned persons on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.

SDNs are individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific, according to the OFAC website.

Decrypt, Rug Radio agree to merge

Decrypt, a media firm covering crypto and web3, plans to merge with Rug Radio, a decentralised media company for web3 creators, Axios reported, citing executives from the two companies.

The executives said the deal should close early next year and shouldn’t require regulatory approval.

Kazakhstan blocks unregistered crypto exchanges

Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency has blocked access to 980 crypto exchanges without proper registration this year, according to a government website post.

The FMA also carried out nine investigations into “illegal exchange operations” and money laundering.

Mansion deal voided amid angry investors

Canadian NBA player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won a lawsuit to void his $8.4-million purchase of a lakefront mansion where Ontario’s self-described “Crypto King” Aiden Pleterski formerly lived, the CBC reported.

The suit claimed that the sellers had failed to disclose sometimes daily threatening visits to the property by investors looking for Pleterski, who had been leasing-to-own the mansion until his crypto investment operation collapsed last year.

MetaMask adds to global partnerships

Software cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask introduced six new partnerships to buy crypto in Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Egypt, and Chile in a post on X.

MetaMask is working with VietQR and Mobile Money in Vietnam, GCash in the Philippines, QRIS in Indonesia, Thai QR in Thailand, Vodafone Cash in Egypt, and Webpay in Chile.

What we’re reading around the web

Crypto’s return puts no-coiner critics in an awkward spot — Fortune

El Salvador offers citizenship to those with $1m Bitcoin or Tether as its own Bitcoin bet pays off — DL News

Jack Dorsey’s Block opens up preorders for Bitcoin hardware wallet Bitkey in more than 95 countries — Fortune