Argentine Court Orders Tether to Freeze $3.5 Million in USDT Linked to Ponzi Scheme; Crypto Firms Assist in Investigation

The Argentine justice system has recently ordered Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, to freeze approximately $3.5 million tied to the Rainbowex platform

Argentine Court Freezes $3.5 Million in USDT Linked to Ponzi Scheme; Crypto Firms Assist in Investigation

Argentine judicial authorities have ordered Tether, the company that issues the USDT stablecoin, to freeze around $3.5 million in digital assets linked to the Rainbowex platform, which is being probed for allegedly operating a massive Ponzi scheme. Investigators are focusing their efforts in the town of San Pedro, in Buenos Aires, where thousands are said to have been scammed, according to local press reports.

The freezing order from an Argentine court is aimed at dismantling Rainbowex’s financial network. The court also ordered the seizure of digital assets, cryptocurrency wallets, and bank accounts of those involved in the scheme to stop further financial dealings around the alleged fraud.

Tether has previously been involved in similar legal actions. The company has a mechanism that allows them to blacklist a particular wallet address upon a court order. With this, Tether will be able to stop any purchase from any wallet found on their blacklist. Once their system blacklists a wallet, any transactions in and out of USDT will be blocked.

Crypto Firms Assist Argentine Authorities in USDT Seizure Case

This centralized control, despite being built on the decentralized blockchain, is capable of freezing assets in USDT, a stablecoin that is fundamentally at odds with such a measure, Mansilla said. “The smart contract verifies if a wallet is blacklisted before performing the transaction,” Firtman explained, and if so, “the transaction does not get processed.”

As in any process, this raises interesting questions about how centralized control in cryptocurrencies works in general, especially for a crypto like USDT that is backed by a stablecoin. It also opens up a scenario where funds can be locked possibly indefinitely.

Several cryptocurrency tracking firms, including Lemon Exchange, Chinalisys, and Qlue, are providing technical assistance to the investigation. Their support is key for Argentine authorities to track and analyze the data needed for the case to progress.