L’ONU S’associe à Tether pour Lutter Contre les Escroqueries Cryptographiques et la Traite des Êtres Humains

Tether has formed a partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to enhance cybersecurity and tackle digital asset fraud in Africa, Papua New Guinea, and other at-risk areas.

This collaboration, revealed on Friday, will provide funding for victim support programs, educational initiatives for youth, and blockchain-based strategies aimed at diminishing exploitation and fostering community resilience against organized crime.

As reported by Chainalysis, Africa has become the third-fastest-growing cryptocurrency region, with over $205 billion in transaction volume recorded between July 2024 and June 2025, while also becoming a major target for scams and trafficking operations.

Source: Chainalysts

A recent investigation by Interpol, referenced by Tether, revealed $260 million in illegal cryptocurrency and fiat transactions throughout the continent.

Supporting Victims and Educating Future Innovators

This partnership will aid UNODC’s Strategic Vision for Africa 2030, centering on three primary initiatives across several nations.

In Senegal, Tether will sponsor a multi-phase cybersecurity education initiative for young people, which will include bootcamp sessions led by the Plan B Foundation (a collaborative venture between Tether and the City of Lugano), followed by coaching, mentorship, and micro-grants to assist participants in developing their ideas.

Across six African countries, including Nigeria, DRC, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Uganda, the initiative will provide funding to civil society organizations that offer direct support to victims of human trafficking.

In Papua New Guinea, Tether will collaborate with local universities to promote awareness about financial inclusion and digital asset fraud prevention through student competitions that focus on blockchain solutions for crime deterrence.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the partnership merges innovation and education to create safer opportunities for at-risk communities.

“Through our partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, we’re supporting initiatives that integrate innovation and education to empower communities and help create safer, more inclusive opportunities for those who need them most,” Ardoino remarked.

UNODC Regional Representative for West and Central Africa, Sylvie Bertrand, characterized the collaboration as a joint effort “bringing together the United Nations, the private sector, and Senegalese authorities, to support the vision behind Senegal’s Digital New Deal,” while fostering secure digital ecosystems and preventing organized crime.

From Enforcement Partner to Development Ally

This partnership signifies a transition in Tether’s engagement with UN agencies, evolving from a focus primarily on enforcement to proactive developmental initiatives.

Between 2023 and 2025, Tether froze $3.3 billion across 7,268 wallet addresses while cooperating with over 275 law enforcement agencies in 59 jurisdictions, as reported by blockchain forensics firm AMLBot.

The company’s enforcement strategy involved burning seized tokens and reissuing clean replacements to victims, managing up to $2.7 billion in recovered funds.

Tether and Circle froze $3.3B and $109M in crypto over three years, highlighting significant differences in how the two leading stablecoin issuers handle illicit funds. #USDT #USDC #Tether #Circle https://t.co/iaWt2lU8Oh

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) December 10, 2025

Significant actions included freezing $130 million in July 2024, with $30 million associated with Cambodia’s Huione Group, a platform that has facilitated over $24 billion in suspected criminal crypto transactions since 2021 and operated unlicensed exchanges, identity fraud services, and its own stablecoin.

The UN has previously cautioned that organized crime groups are increasingly utilizing stablecoins, particularly USDT on low-cost networks like Tron, to finance terrorism, human trafficking, and fraudulent activities throughout Southeast Asia and beyond.

A 2024 UNODC report estimated that scams originating from East and Southeast Asia resulted in losses ranging from $18 billion to $37 billion in 2023 alone, much of which involved USDT.

Criminal organizations have taken advantage of the cryptocurrency’s liquidity and global reach to facilitate illicit online gambling, identity theft schemes, and sophisticated pig butchering scams that manipulate victims through fictitious romantic relationships before extracting substantial sums.

The new partnership also arises amidst ongoing crypto security threats, with December witnessing $76 million in losses due to hacks and exploits, a decrease of 60% from November’s $194 million.

A single address poisoning scheme accounted for $50 million of December’s losses, while social engineering attacks continue to target users across major platforms, including recent incidents at Betterment and widespread wallet drains across Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible networks.

Although the new partnership emphasizes prevention and education rather than enforcement, it builds on Tether’s infrastructure advancements, including the recent introduction of Rumble Wallet (a self-custodial crypto wallet supporting USDT, Bitcoin, and Tether Gold) and its $8 million investment in Speed, a company specializing in Bitcoin Lightning Network payments.

Tether and Rumble have introduced Rumble Wallet, a self-custodial crypto wallet. #Tether #Crypto https://t.co/sfY0D6K1MX

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) January 7, 2026

Earlier this week, the company also unveiled Scudo, a new unit for Tether Gold aimed at making gold-backed digital assets more accessible for everyday transactions.

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