Tether to Freeze Assets Related to Sanctioned Entities in Venezuela

Tether to Freeze Assets Related to Sanctioned Entities in Venezuela

Reported by CoinTelegraph, USDT-issuer Tether says it will freeze addresses linked to sanctioned entities following a report that Venezuela’s state-run oil company was using the stablecoin to bypass sanctions.

A spokesperson from Tether told Cointelegraph that the company remains committed to stopping payments linked to Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned entities:

"Tether respects the OFAC SDN list and is committed to working to ensure sanction addresses are frozen promptly."

This comes after an exclusive report from Reuters claimed that Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA, has been using cryptocurrencies to facilitate its crude oil and fuel exports. The country is facing new oil sanctions reimposed by the United States.

According to the report, the U.S. Treasury Department requires PDVSA customers and providers to wind down transactions by May 31 due to Venezuela’s failure to implement electoral reforms.

The report, which cited anonymous sources, says the reimposed sanctions will make it harder for Venezuela to increase its oil product and export because companies will require U.S. authorizations to do business with the South American nation.

The sources claim that PDVSA has been moving its oil sales to Tether as a mitigating move to avoid funds being frozen in foreign bank accounts as new sanctions take effect.

Reuters’ sources also claim that PDVSA has reworked its spot oil deals in 2024 to a contract model that requires prepayment for exported cargo in USDT. The report also suggests that the Venezuelan state-run oil firm requires new customers looking to conduct oil transactions to hold cryptocurrency in a digital wallet.

It’s understood that companies that looked to resume business with PDVSA following a six-month licensing approval from the U.S. in October 2023 had to resort to intermediaries to carry out the cryptocurrency payment requirements.

Source

Tether

In This Article

Related News
Tether expands USDT stablecoin to Aptos blockchain Tether expands USDT stablecoin to Aptos blockchain
Elliptic alleges money laundering and other crimes linked to multi-billion dollar marketplace Huione Guarantee Elliptic alleges money laundering and other crimes linked to multi-billion dollar marketplace Huione Guarantee
Tether CEO Hits Back at Ripple CEO's Comments on $USDT Tether CEO Hits Back at Ripple CEO's Comments on $USDT
Tether Partnered with Telegram to Launch USDT Payment Tether Partnered with Telegram to Launch USDT Payment
Tether to Launch New Businesses, Tether Data, Tether Finance, Tether Power, and Tether Edu Tether to Launch New Businesses, Tether Data, Tether Finance, Tether Power, and Tether Edu
Latest News More More
11 Hours Ago BTC investors pour $1.1B into BlackRock ETF as Bitcoin marks another high
11 Hours Ago Solana climbs above $200, bitcoin hits new high amid extended post-election rally
19 Hours Ago Binance Marks Two Years of Proof of Reserves with Extensive Asset Backing
1 Day Ago Avalanche buys back $53M of AVAX tokens from Terra’s LFG
1 Day Ago Crypto stocks close on huge gains riding Donald Trump’s US election win
delate
Use TokenInsight App All Crypto Insights Are In Your Hands
Open