Crypto giant Tether promised careful vetting. Some early customers were later implicated in financial crimes.

Financial records obtained by ICIJ show that they included individuals later accused of or sanctioned for money laundering and other financial crimes. D uring a two-month period in 2020, a Russian man named Nikita Krasnov purchased about $1.16 million worth of newly minted USDT — the widely used stablecoin made by the cryptocurrency company Tether. A little more than four years later, Krasnov was sanctioned by U.S. authorities for his role in an expansive sanctions evasion scheme catering to Russian elites.