Tether helped users recover $87 million in USDT sent to wrong addresses since its launch in 2014
Tether has helped recover $87 million in USDT sent to wrong addresses by users over the years. The stablecoin issuer has a recovery mechanism for the Ethereum and Tron blockchains.
Tether has recovered $87 million in USDT sent to wrong addresses since its launch
According to CTO Paolo Ardoino in the interview with The Block, Tether has helped users recover $87 million USDT sent to the wrong addresses since its launch in 2014.
Earlier this week, Tether recovered nearly $1.5 million in USDT on behalf of its users. Reportedly, Tether has a recovery mechanism that allows it to blacklist addresses on the Ethereum and Tron blockchains, freeze funds in those addresses, and issue new USDT tokens to affected users.
“Some users make mistakes when sending tokens to DeFi [decentralized finance] projects or trading platforms, which result in tokens being sent to smart contracts or addresses that do not have the functionality to recover the funds,” said Ardoino.
“As part of the recovery process, Tether has to blacklist the address in order to recover a token. This revokes all USDT held by that address and reissues an equivalent amount of USDT to an escrow address in order to process and return funds to their rightful owners. To be safe, Tether requires confirmation of ownership, among other information, to start the recovery.”
Tether recovery is not a free service. According to their website, the stablecoin issuer charges $1,000 or up to 10% of the withdrawal amount, whichever is greater. That means it made $8.7 million in fees. Tether accepts recovery requests for amounts above $1,000.
Besides its recovery mechanism, Tether also blacklisted addresses for legal reasons. For example, earlier this month, Tether blocked three Ethereum addresses containing over $160 million worth of USDT.
“Tether is cooperating with a law enforcement request, imposing a temporary freeze to allow the investigation to proceed”, he stated.
Tether has been the market leader since its launch. But last week, the total supply of rival USD Coin (USDC) surpassed Tether on the Ethereum blockchain and continues to stay higher. According to Etherscan, the total current supply of USDC on Ethereum is over 42 billion, while the total supply of USDT on the blockchain is close to 40 billion. Across all blockchains, Tether still leads.
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