Stablecoin issuer Tether has invested $20 million in Latin American fintech company Ualá. The funding is part of Ualá's recently completed Series F round, led by Allianz X, which raised $197 million and valued the company at $3.2 billion.

 

According to a press release, the funds will be used to accelerate Ualá's growth and expand its financial ecosystem across Latin America. Ualá currently serves more than 11 million customers and plans to expand into additional Latin American countries beyond Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia, where it already operates under full banking licenses.

 

Explaining the rationale behind the investment, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said, "Ualá has built one of the most ambitious and widely used digital financial platforms in Latin America."

 

"Its growth reflects the enormous demand across the region for financial services that are more accessible, efficient, and designed around the needs of consumers. We are pleased to support the Ualá team as they continue investing in technology and expanding their reach."

 

Tether's investment in Ualá comes shortly after it led Neura Robotics' Series C funding round, which reportedly raised $1.4 billion, making it the largest funding round Tether has participated in so far this year.

About Ualá

 

Headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ualá offers a mobile-friendly financial ecosystem designed to promote financial inclusion across Latin America. Its user-friendly app allows customers to make debit and credit card payments, send peer-to-peer transfers, access loans and credit, invest, and perform a range of other financial services.

 

Since its launch, Ualá has raised more than $1.1 billion across several funding rounds. It has also grown to serve about 11 million users, with more than 20% of Argentina's adult population, or about 7 million people, using the platform.

 

 

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, has announced plans to shut down its Alloy platform, along with the platform’s main product, Alloy Tether (aUSDT).

 

According to Tether, the decision was based on a review of user activity levels, market demand, and the company’s broader priorities, with the team planning to focus its resources on areas where it sees stronger user demand, deeper liquidity, and longer-term market opportunity.

 

The wind-down will take place in phases, with Tether disabling both aUSDT minting and the opening of new positions on the Alloy platform. Users will, however, be able to continue redeeming their aUSDT and withdrawing their Tether Gold (XAUT) collateral from the Alloy platform for the next three months, until September 17, 2026.

 

This is not the first time Tether has shut down one of its products. In 2024, the stablecoin issuer discontinued its euro-pegged stablecoin, Euro Tether (EURT), citing low demand. In February of this year, it discontinued issuing its yuan-pegged stablecoin, Chinese Yuan Tether (CNHT), due to low demand and usage.

 

About Alloy 

Alloy by Tether is an open platform launched by Tether that allows users to create Tethered assets, a category of digital assets designed to track the price of referenced assets such as the United States dollar, using over-collateralized assets like Tether Gold (XAUT).

 

 

Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced its role as the lead investor in Neura Robotics’ recent Series C funding round. The funding round, which raised an estimated $1.4 billion, included Qualcomm, Amazon, and NVIDIA among other investors.

 

 

By investing in Neura Robotics, Tether is extending its influence beyond the digital asset industry, enabling it to deploy some of its core technologies into the humanoid robotics ecosystem. The partnership also enables the integration of Tether’s Wallet Development Kit and Tether’s self-custody wallets into the Neura Robotics system.

 

Through this integration, Tether provides a foundation that enables Neura Robotics to develop robotic systems that earn micropayments for tasks, transact with other robotic systems, and autonomously facilitate transactions and receive payments between machines without human intervention.

 

As part of its partnership, Neura Robotics will collaborate on testing, improving, and deploying Tether’s QuantumVerse Automatic Computer, known as QVAC, into its Neuraverse ecosystem. QVAC is Tether’s open-source, decentralized artificial intelligence platform that enables users to run and fine-tune large language models directly on their devices without relying on cloud servers.

 

“As robotics moves beyond scripted automation and into true autonomy, the infrastructure behind it must evolve as well,” said Paolo Ardoino, chief executive officer of Tether.

 

“Autonomous machines need the ability to process information locally, make decisions, and transact without relying on centralized intermediaries. QVAC brings that edge-first intelligence to the platform while WDK handles the secure financial layer. Together, they enable machines to execute tasks, account for outcomes, and operate independently. NEURA Robotics shares that vision, and this investment reflects our confidence in what autonomous robotics can become.”

 

About Neura Robotics 

NEURA Robotics is a German-based high technology company that positions itself as a pioneer in cognitive robotics and Physical Artificial Intelligence. It develops artificially intelligent machines that can perceive (see, hear, feel), learn, adapt, and collaborate safely with humans.

 

So far, the company has developed some cognitive humanoid robots, including MAiRA, MiPA, and 4NE1. It has also developed Neuraverse, an open ecosystem and platform that enables robots to share skills, continuously learn, and expand their capabilities.

 

 

Speaking at the 2026 Reagan National Economic Forum in Simi Valley, California, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow that the United States has seized roughly $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency from entities linked to Iran's military since conflict broke out in February. 

 

"We just outright grabbed the wallets," Bessent said. "Some of them may be typing in right now, and they might not have realized that their wallet had been grabbed."

 

Operation Economic Fury

The seizures Bessent referenced didn't happen overnight. They are the product of a campaign called Operation Economic Fury, a Treasury-led financial pressure initiative that kicked off around March 2025 under the Trump administration's direction. The goal, broadly, has been to cut off Iran's ability to move money internationally by targeting its revenue streams, weapons funding infrastructure, and sanctions evasion networks.

 

Before this campaign intensified, Iran had reportedly been routing $400 million to $500 million per month through crypto, primarily USDT on the Tron blockchain, to fund oil sales and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps operations.  It's a shadow banking pipeline built on a stablecoin that, for various reasons, became the preferred dollar substitute in sanctioned economies around the world.

 

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has since sanctioned more than 1,000 Iran-linked entities and wallet addresses. It has also gotten some notable help from the private sector.

 

Tether as a Sanctions Tool

On April 24, 2026, Tether froze $344 million in USDT across two Tron blockchain addresses tied to Iran's IRGC and the Central Bank of Iran. One wallet held approximately $213 million; the other, $131 million. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis had flagged the addresses based on on-chain patterns consistent with known Iranian military wallets, and the freeze was coordinated directly with U.S. law enforcement and updated OFAC designations published the same day.

 

USDT circulates heavily on Tron precisely because it became a preferred rail for cross-border transfers in regions where traditional dollar-based banking is unavailable or restricted. By working with Tether to freeze those wallets, the Treasury effectively turned the world's largest stablecoin into a live sanctions enforcement mechanism. That's a significant shift in how financial pressure campaigns work in the digital asset era.

 

The implications go beyond Iran. Tether's cooperation confirms, in practice, that USDT is not a neutral financial instrument. It is subject to the same policy levers as the dollar-based correspondent banking system it was often pitched as an alternative to.

 

Bitcoin, Hormuz, and the Limits of "Untraceable" Crypto

The IRGC's crypto ambitions have not been limited to stablecoins. In April, the Financial Times reported that Iran was planning to require oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz to pay transit fees in Bitcoin. An Iranian official quoted at the time said the fees "can't be traced or confiscated due to sanctions." That quote aged poorly.

 

This month, Iran's state-affiliated Fars news agency reported that the IRGC promoted a Bitcoin-settled maritime insurance platform called Hormuz Safe. The scheme is a direct response to the ongoing blockade of the waterway, through which roughly 20% of the world's oil flows. With oil revenues choked and the regime under mounting financial pressure, digital assets have become one of the few remaining channels to keep funds moving.

 

Bessent did not directly link the $1 billion in seizures to the Bitcoin toll scheme. He also did not confirm whether Bitcoin itself was among the seized assets. Those details remain unspecified. What he did confirm is that the campaign is ongoing, that the seizures are substantial, and that some of those holding the funds may still be unaware.

 

Legal Fallout and Frozen Funds

The frozen Tether tranche is already the subject of a legal battle. A group of American terrorism victims, families connected to a 1997 Hamas bombing in Jerusalem, filed a motion in Manhattan federal court in mid-May seeking to have the $344 million transferred directly to their attorneys. Their unpaid court judgments against Iran total more than $2.4 billion across multiple terrorism-related cases. The plaintiffs served restraining notices on Tether just three days after the original freeze.

 

It is a legally complex situation. Tether froze the wallets by blacklisting the addresses at the smart contract level. Whether those funds can be redirected to private plaintiffs rather than held by the government is an open question, and one that federal courts will likely spend considerable time untangling.

 

Where This Leaves Iran, and Crypto

Bessent's comments Friday came as negotiations over a potential ceasefire deal were apparently inching forward. Reports citing Axios indicated that negotiators had reached a preliminary agreement pending Trump's approval. Whether that changes the pace of seizures is unclear.

 

What is clear is that Iran's crypto holdings are larger than the seized amount. Estimates put total Iranian digital asset holdings at roughly $7.7 billion, with about half attributed to the IRGC. The billion seized so far is meaningful pressure but not a knockout blow.

 

For the broader crypto market, the episode lands as a reminder that the "permissionless" framing of digital assets has always had limits. When the asset is a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by a centralized company, and that company cooperates with the U.S. Treasury, the network rails may be decentralized but the kill switch is not. That reality is going to shape how governments, firms, and bad actors all think about crypto infrastructure for years to come.

 

Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, has partnered with the Georgian government to launch GELT, a stablecoin representing the lari, the country’s official currency.

 

 

The partnership, announced on Monday, aims to create a financial ecosystem that supports cross-border commerce, fintech development, and broader access to programmable financial infrastructure across Georgia.

 

GELT will serve as a digital representation of the Georgian lari and will be designed to enable lower transaction costs, near instant settlement, programmable payments, and more efficient movement of value across digital financial systems.

 

“Together with visionary partners like Tether, Georgia is laying the foundations for a more connected, transparent, and digitally empowered financial world,” said Irakli Kobakhidze, Prime Minister of Georgia.

 

The launch of the GELT stablecoin is built on a regulatory framework created by the Georgian government and the National Bank of Georgia. In March this year, the National Bank of Georgia developed a framework governing the issuance of stablecoins.

 

The framework, officially known as “The Rule for the Initial Coin Offering of a Stable Virtual Asset by a Virtual Asset Service Provider,” sets out standards that must be met by all virtual asset service providers (VASPs) operating in the country, including requirements for 100 percent reserve backing, strong consumer protections, proper risk management, and full compliance with the country’s Anti Money Laundering (AML) standards.

 

“Stablecoins are no longer a niche financial instrument. They are becoming part of the infrastructure layer for global finance,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “Georgia has moved early to create serious regulatory architecture for digital assets and stablecoins, and that clarity creates the foundation for real innovation and adoption.”

 

Georgia’s stablecoin framework is also designed to be compatible with other regulatory frameworks, including the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) and Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA).

 

By partnering with Tether to launch the GELT stablecoin, Georgia becomes the first country to team up with a major stablecoin issuer to issue a government-supported stablecoin pegged to its national currency. The UAE has also launched a dirham-pegged stablecoin, but unlike Georgia’s GELT, that stablecoin was issued by local consortia rather than a major stablecoin issuer such as Tether.

 

The planned launch of the GELT stablecoin comes shortly after Tether launched its self-custodial wallet. In an effort to increase access to stablecoins, Qivalis recently expanded its consortium to include more banks, which are collectively working to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin.

 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, specifically the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has frozen $344 million in USDT allegedly linked to Iran.

 

In a Friday post on X, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the crypto seizure. The move, according to Bessent, is part of the U.S. effort to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.

 

 

“We will follow the money that Tehran is desperately attempting to move outside of the country and target all financial lifelines tied to the regime,” Bessent wrote.

 

While the announcement from Bessent confirmed the freeze and the imposition of sanctions on the owners of the wallets involved, the technical action of the freeze itself was carried out by stablecoin issuer Tether. The stablecoin issuer had earlier stated that it was supporting OFAC and law enforcement agencies in freezing the $344 million linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Hezbollah militant group.

 

Following the announcement, Tether blacklisted two specific wallet addresses on the Tron blockchain, holding $213 million and $131 million in USDT respectively. This move by the U.S. Department of the Treasury follows a similar action in February, when OFAC sanctioned more than 30 individuals and entities allegedly linked to Iran’s oil shipping network.

 

Tether Expands Blockchain Development Efforts

Tether has consistently pushed forward with innovative blockchain developments. Just this month, it launched tether.wallet, its self custodial wallet that brings Tether’s global financial infrastructure within reach of those who have been left unbanked by the traditional financial system.

 

In an effort to enhance the utility of its stablecoins, Tether last month invested 5.2 million dollars into Ark Labs, supporting the building of Arkade, an infrastructure layer that brings programmable, instant transactions directly to the Bitcoin network. Through the Arkade network being built by Arkade Labs, we might see the introduction of stablecoins, including USDT, into Bitcoin.

 

Tether, for the first time, expanded USAT, its US regulated stablecoin, to the Celo blockchain. Since Celo is an Ethereum Layer 2 network optimized for payments, the expansion of USAT to Celo enabled the integration of USAT into Opera MiniPay and Google Cloud infrastructure.