TechFlow News, May 15: According to The Block, a group of plaintiffs holding U.S. court judgments against Iran for terrorism filed a motion on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, requesting that the judge compel Tether to zero out approximately 344.1 million USDT held in two wallet addresses linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—addresses already sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)—and reissue an equivalent amount of USDT to wallets designated by the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs argue that Tether possesses the technical capability to carry out such action and bears corresponding legal obligations under New York state turnover statutes and federal anti-terrorism enforcement laws. They cite Tether’s prior compliance with FBI seizure orders and its handling of token destruction and reissuance in an Ohio case as precedent. The total judgment the plaintiffs seek to enforce amounts to approximately $2.42 billion, covering compensatory and punitive damages across multiple Iran-related terrorism cases spanning over two decades. Tether froze the relevant wallets on April 24 this year—the same day OFAC added them to its sanctions list.
