Tether freezes 550 million USD: What it means for the Tether USDt price

Published on 10/20/2026 at 07:41 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS

Iran-linked volumes fell 94 percent, based on Tether's claim. The Tether USDt price stands at 0.9993 USD on October 20, 2026.

Compliance and market share

Tether said on October 19, 2026, that freezes covered 550 million USD linked to Iran.
USDT and USDC represented 84.7 percent of the stablecoin market on October 17, 2026.
The Tether USDt price stands at 0.9993 USD as of October 20, 2026, against the UTC daily close of October 19, 2026.
A Senate report dated September 28, 2026, said 84 percent of 846 Iran-linked sanctioned wallets mainly used USDT.

Tether USDt, XCRYPTOUSDT4, Illustration mit AI erstellt.

Tether USDt (USDT) reported a 94 percent decline in Iran-linked stablecoin volumes on October 19, 2026, alongside a disclosure that nearly 550 million USD in USDT had been frozen during 2026. The Tether USDt price stands at 0.9993 USD as of October 20, 2026, while the token remains below its 1.00 USD target by 0.07 percent.

Tether reports a 94 percent decline

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said address freezes drove the 94 percent reduction in Iran-linked volumes, according to Crypto Briefing. The same report said Tether disclosed that it blocked 550 million USD in USDT linked to Iran during 2026, including more than 470 million USD in April and July.

The disclosure followed a Senate report dated September 28, 2026. That report analyzed 846 sanctioned wallets with Iranian links and found that 84 percent predominantly used USDT, according to Crypto Briefing.

USDT holds 84.7 percent market share

USDT and USD Coin together represented 84.7 percent of the 302.5 billion USD stablecoin market on October 17, 2026, according to TokenPost. USDT accounted for 183.4 billion USD of that market, while the combined value of the two tokens reached 256.1 billion USD.

A separate distribution development is also dated to October 2026. Utexo said it had obtained a commercial license to issue USDT on Bitcoin using RGB, a protocol that keeps most transaction information outside Bitcoin's public transaction history, according to FinanceFeeds.

USDT market data on October 20, 2026

According to Investing.com, Tether USDt trades at 0.9993 USD as of October 20, 2026. The daily high is 0.9999 USD and the daily low for the UTC day is 0.9992 USD. Market capitalization is 183.49 billion USD, ranking USDT third, and 24-hour volume is 61.16 billion USD. Circulating supply is 183.67 billion USDT. The quoted move is 0.01 percent below the UTC daily close of October 19, 2026, but the stablecoin price is presented here without a percentage change.