Tether freezes $28 million worth of USDT on sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex

Odaily News On March 6, stablecoin issuer Tether froze about $28 million (250 million rubles) of USDT held by sanctioned Russian crypto exchange Garantex, causing the platform to suspend operations. Garantex said in an official announcement that it had temporarily suspended operations and closed the withdrawal function, and its website was currently under maintenance.
The freeze came after the EU imposed a new round of sanctions on Garantex on February 26. Garantex warned users that "all USDT in Russian wallets are currently at risk." The platform stressed that it would not give up and would continue to fight.
Garantex was included in the sanctions list by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as early as April 2022. Tether has not yet responded to the freezing decision.