Tether Holdings has frozen $13.4 million worth of USDT across 22 wallet addresses on the Ethereum and Tron networks, according to on-chain data from MistTrack.
The move continues Tether’s ongoing efforts to block funds linked to illicit activity or law enforcement investigations — but it comes amid renewed criticism over the company’s control of on-chain assets.
$10.3 Million Concentrated in One Ethereum Address
MistTrack data shows that the largest frozen address, beginning with 0xecbd8, held over $10.3 million USDT, while another on Tron, starting with TYzDeb, contained about $1.4 million. The source or nature of these funds remains unclear.
Tether regularly freezes wallets tied to fraud, sanctioned entities, or terrorism financing, often in cooperation with law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, and OFAC.
In June 2025, the company froze $12.3 million on Tron-linked addresses, while a major operation in March saw $28 million USDT locked on wallets tied to the Russian exchange Garantex.
Ongoing Legal Battle With Riverstone Consulting
The latest freeze follows a lawsuit filed by Texas-based Riverstone Consulting, which accuses Tether of unlawfully freezing $44.7 million in USDT earlier this year.
Riverstone claims its wallets were frozen in April 2025 at the request of Bulgarian police, allegedly without proper international judicial procedure. The firm argues that the freeze caused substantial financial losses by preventing access to its funds.
Tether has defended its approach, noting in a September statement that it has frozen more than $3.2 billion in USDT linked to criminal activity in cooperation with 290+ agencies across 59 countries.
Balancing Compliance and Centralization Concerns
While Tether maintains that freezes are necessary for compliance with AML and sanctions regulations, critics argue that such unilateral control contradicts the decentralized ethos of blockchain.
The firm has not yet issued an official statement on the 22 newly frozen addresses.
