Overview
- Tether froze $213 million across 48 USDT wallets tied to iGaming founder Gurhan Kiziloz on Thursday at the request of Brazilian authorities.
- Regulators say the claim targets taxes from unlicensed gambling and unregistered token sales during 2021 to 2024, before Brazil set clear licensing and registration rules.
- No criminal charges have been filed, and the case is proceeding in Brazil’s civil courts where judges will decide how far newer rules can reach backward.
- The 48-wallet lock required mapping and linking each address to the disputed period, indicating close coordination between Tether and Brazilian tax investigators.
- On-chain analysis cited in the reports shows Tether has frozen more than $5.1 billion to date, including over $500 million in the past 30 days, which highlights how a stablecoin issuer can cut off access to funds within minutes.