The stablecoin issuer cited "activity tied to unlawful conduct” but no further explanation for the freezing of the dollar-pegged tokens held in two wallet addresses. Tether, the company that issues the USDt dollar-pegged stablecoin, said Thursday that it froze more than $344 million in USDt at the request of US law enforcement officials. The company froze two wallet addresses at the request of US authorites for “activity tied to unlawful conduct,” according to Tether’s announcement. Tether did not provide a specific reason for the asset freezes, but said that it freezes wallet addresses tied to “sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illicit activity.” Read more
A negative Bitcoin funding rate and $7.5 billion in USDC reserves suggest traders may start positioning against the bearish trend. Will BTC price keep rising? Bitcoin (BTC) has rallied 30% since its 2026 low of $60,000, and stablecoin balances on exchanges suggest the market has entered a disbelief phase, with roughly $7.5 billion in USDC on Binance highlighting readily deployable capital that traders could start positioning soon. Data show that derivatives market positioning has not kept pace with the bullish price trend. Crypto analyst Darkfost tracked the 30-day cumulative funding rate, which aggregates funding over time to reveal sustained positioning. The metric stands near -4.5%, reflecting a prolonged bearish bias against the current move. The analyst explained that the negative funding creates conditions that incentivize traders to take the opposite side. Read more