Tether and Circle added about $200B in Treasuries and repos over five years, the San Francisco Fed says. That exceeds 40% of China’s Treasury decline, but issuers favor short maturities while China cut longer-dated debt.

Tether Faces New Iran USDT Scrutiny Sen. Richard Blumenthal has released a Senate report examining Tether’s role in Iran’s shadow banking network. The investigation reviewed blockchain activity across 846 wallets sanctioned or targeted over Iranian connections. Investigators found 84% of those wallets transacted exclusively or almost exclusively in USDT. Blumenthal urged Treasury and Justice officials to investigate potential sanctions and banking law violations. Tether disputes the characterization, saying it has helped freeze nearly $550 million linked to Iran.

Tether banking partner EQIBank is fighting to recover about $90 million seized from accounts held by a U.S. payment provider it used to access the American banking system. Read more: