OFAC
Office of Foreign Assets Control
The US Treasury bureau that administers economic sanctions — its lists bind US-touching stablecoin issuers.
Centralised stablecoin issuers (Circle, Tether, Paxos) freeze funds at OFAC-listed addresses. Notable: Tornado Cash designation (Aug 2022) → ~30 USDC addresses immediately blacklisted. OFAC compliance is a structural input to censorship risk.
Related terms
- SanctionsGovernment-imposed restrictions on financial transactions with specified persons, entities, or jurisdictions.
- Censorship riskThe risk that an issuer or chain operator freezes, blocks, or refuses to settle a holder's tokens.
- AML (anti-money-laundering)A body of law and procedure obliging financial institutions to detect and report suspicious activity.