Tether freezes $182 million USDT on the Tron chain, highlighting the central role of stablecoins in regulation and illegal fund flows amid OFAC sanctions and global enforcement.
According to on-chain data monitoring tool Whale Alert, on Sunday, Tether on the Tron blockchain froze a total of over $182 million USDT across five wallet addresses, marking the largest freeze operation on the Tron chain in recent months.
On-chain data shows that these five addresses hold between approximately $12 million and $50 million USDT each; Tether has not yet disclosed the specific reasons for freezing these assets.
Image source: X/@whale_alert
The freeze operation on January 11 coincides with Tether’s official implementation of its wallet freeze policy starting December 2023. This policy is primarily designed to comply with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list for “Specially Designated Nationals (SDN).”
Tether explicitly states in its terms of service that it reserves the right to proactively freeze addresses or provide user information to relevant authorities when receiving court orders or when the company deems it “reasonable and necessary.”
According to information disclosed on Tether’s official website, to date, the company has assisted over 62 jurisdictions and more than 310 law enforcement agencies worldwide in freezing over $3 billion worth of USDT.
By July 2025, just in cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and the Secret Service, Tether had frozen over 2,380 wallets with assets totaling approximately $1.14 billion.
Interestingly, Tether’s enforcement efforts show a significant gap compared to its competitor Circle (issuer of USDC). According to a report released by analytics firm AMLBot in December 2025, the total frozen assets by Tether since 2023 are 30 times that of Circle ($109 million).
Currently, USDT has a circulating supply of over $187 billion, dominating 64% of the stablecoin market share. In contrast, USDC, which follows a compliant approach and is U.S.-based, maintains a total supply of around $75 billion.
According to the latest report from Chainalysis, stablecoins are now the preferred medium for illegal cryptocurrency transactions. Data shows that in 2025, the global illicit crypto fund flows are conservatively estimated at $154 billion, with stablecoins accounting for 84% of this amount.
- This article is reprinted with permission from: 《BlockBeats》
- Original title: 《Tether Freezes $182 Million USDT in One Go, Involving 5 Tron Wallets》
- Original author: Block Sister MEL
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