Tether, the company behind the popular stablecoin USDT, has frozen $13.4 million worth of USDT spread across 22 wallets on the Ethereum and Tron networks.
Blockchain tracking firm MistTrack reported that the largest share of the frozen funds, $10.3 million, was held in a single Ethereum address ‘0xecbd8…’. Another wallet ‘TYzDebk…’ on Tron contained USDT worth approximately $1.4 million.
The company has carried out similar actions throughout the year. In June, it froze more than $12.3 million, and in April 2025, around 28.67 million USDT was frozen across 13 wallets.
In March, Tether froze $28 million in USDT on the Russian crypto exchange Garantex, though blockchain analysis firm Global Ledger noted that the exchange still held $15 million in active funds.
In a September 15 statement, Tether said it has frozen over $3.2 billion in USDT connected to criminal activity, working with more than 290 law enforcement agencies in 59 countries. Over the past year, the company has blocked around 3,660 wallets.
Why the wallets are frozen
Tether usually freezes wallets when requested by authorities like the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), or other international agencies.
Wallets linked to fraud, terrorism, sanctioned entities, or illegal markets may be blocked to stop the movement of funds. The company also keeps an eye on blockchain activity to follow anti-money-laundering and sanctions rules.
Not everyone agrees with Tether’s approach. Recently, Texas-based Riverstone Consulting filed a lawsuit, claiming the company wrongly froze $44.7 million in April, which affected their investments. Riverstone says Tether skipped formal international procedures, including the Bulgarian International Judicial Assistance Treaty, which requires requests to go through official channels.
Also Read: Tether Donates $250K to OpenSats for Bitcoin Ecosystem Growth
