Once frozen, a blacklisted Tether wallet never comes back. According to Reuters, only 3.6% of titles on the list banned in 2025 were subsequently removed. BlockSec data.
More than half of the funds associated with these wallets were permanently destroyed using the contracts’ “destroyBlackFunds” function – a detail that underscores the finality of these enforcement actions.
Freeze Rise via Tron and Ethereum
In the past 30 days alone, Tether has frozen more than $514 million in USDT across 370 addresses on the Ethereum and Tron networks.
BlockSec USDT Freeze Tracker shows that 328 of these addresses were on Tron, with about $506 million locked there. Ethereum It represents 42 titles and $8.73 million. The gap between the two networks suggests that Tron is the main front in Tether’s law enforcement campaign.
Source: BlockSec
The pace is accelerating. The entire year of 2025 saw Tether black list 4,163 addresses and a total freeze of $1.26 billion. At the current rate, this annual total could be surpassed long before December.
A broader study covering the period from 2023 to 2025 estimated the cumulative figure at $3.3 billion across 7,268 addresses — far outpacing rival stablecoin issuer Circle over the same period.
Seeing Tether freeze over $500 million worth of USDT across Tron and Ethereum really shows how much compliance still shapes cryptocurrencies behind the scenes.
This makes me appreciate using platforms like BingX while remaining more aware of custody, liquidity, and where money is actually moving on the chain. pic.twitter.com/K0cNTrcmWX
— CryptoAxtrol (@CryptoAxtrol) May 8, 2026
Law enforcement plays an increasing role
Some of the largest recent freezes were directly related to government investigations. In April, Tether coordinated with the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to secure more than $344 million in USDT via two Tron addresses.
The officials said those wallets were linked to Iran’s evasion of sanctions. Months earlier, in February, Tether helped authorities seize more than $61 million linked to pig slaughter scams — a form of fraud in which victims are manipulated into sending large sums of money under false pretenses.
Tether had previously revealed that it had frozen about $4.2 billion worth of tokens over three years due to their links to illicit activity, with $3.5 billion of that amount secured since 2023 as law enforcement agencies ramp up investigations related to cryptocurrencies.
Wider questions about freezing powers
The increase in blacklisting has sparked controversy beyond stablecoins. Some DeFi projects have used upgradable contracts and administrative controls to hold back or recover funds after major exploits, raising questions about who has these powers and when they should be used.
For stablecoins like USDT, issuers retain direct control over the minting and burning of the coin. The data suggests that these freezing mechanisms are now a routine part of fraud, sanctions and fraud investigations – not used occasionally, but consistently and widely.
Featured image from Halo, chart from TradingView
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