Tether has played a pivotal role in assisting Turkish authorities to freeze over half a billion dollars in cryptocurrency linked to an alleged illegal betting and money-laundering network. According to a recent announcement by Istanbul prosecutors, approximately €460 million ($544 million) in assets have been seized from Veysel Sahin, who is accused of running unauthorized betting platforms and laundering their profits. Initially, the identity of the crypto firm involved was undisclosed, but Tether Holdings SA, the issuer of the USDt (USDT) stablecoin, confirmed its involvement. Tether's CEO, Paolo Ardoino, explained to Bloomberg that the company acted in compliance with Turkish law after law enforcement provided the necessary information. This move is part of a larger investigation into underground gambling and payment systems in Turkey, which has already led to the seizure of over $1 billion in assets. Tether has historically assisted global law enforcement in more than 1,800 cases across 62 countries, entailing the freezing of $3.4 billion in USDT associated with alleged criminal activities. Despite these collaborations, USDT has faced scrutiny. Recently, US prosecutors charged a Venezuelan national with laundering $1 billion using USDT, and blockchain analysts have linked significant USDT transactions to activities attempting to evade sanctions. Additionally, analytics firm Elliptic reported that stablecoin issuers, notably Tether and Circle, had blacklisted about 5,700 wallets holding approximately $2.5 billion by the end of 2025, the majority of which involved USDT. In 2025, Tether's USDt saw a remarkable increase, reaching a $187.3 billion market cap, despite the broader crypto market downturn. This growth occurred amidst falling values of competitor stablecoins like Circle's USDC and Ethena's USDe. The use of USDt surged, with monthly active wallets reaching 24.8 million and quarterly transfer volumes hitting $4.4 trillion across 2.2 billion transactions. This highlights USDt's significant role in the stablecoin market, despite ongoing regulatory challenges and investigations.