Tether says its response to the October 29 Binance hack blocked more than $1.5 billion, putting the stolen money beyond the attackers’ ability to move it. The company put the interval between the hack and its freeze at no more than 30 minutes. It credited the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with identifying the North Korea connection.
Tether said the intervention stopped the attackers from transferring or swapping the stolen assets, as well as laundering them. U.S. authorities have linked cryptocurrency theft to financing for North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
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The Binance action contributed to a cumulative total of more than 7 billion USD₮ frozen in the secondary market, according to Tether. Freezing assets and recovering them are separate steps: the company reported approximately 1.2 billion USD₮ recovered through reissuance following theft and fraud. Those reissued assets went to their rightful owners and to law enforcement.
Tether also pointed to its response to the April 2026 theft at Drift, where losses were around $285 million. The company said the attackers had North Korean links and committed $127.5 million to help affected Drift users. It said fraud and theft accounted for most frozen funds, particularly cases involving DeFi and attacks on exchanges.
Separately, Tether reported nearly $550 million in freezes tied to Iran this year. Its April intervention blocked more than $344 million in USD₮ held at two addresses after information from law enforcement and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). OFAC connected both addresses to the Central Bank of Iran the following day.
Tether says its work with investigators now reaches more than 360 law enforcement agencies across 73 countries, including inquiries into terrorist financing. The FBI and U.S. Secret Service have joined its platform. In September, Tether reported that it had assisted more than 2,900 investigations worldwide, including over 1,600 involving U.S. law enforcement.
