Review of the USDT Freezing Incident: Why Your Stablecoin Might Disappear Overnight

Stablecoins sound very safe, but history tells us otherwise. In 2018, Bitfinex had frozen funds, and in 2021, Tether froze $30 million all at once—these are not isolated cases, but signals of systemic risk.

Where is the problem? Your USDT may be involved in a suspicious transaction, even if you are completely unaware. Once labeled as “dirty coins,” exchanges and wallet providers can directly freeze them. Victims are often innocent intermediaries.

Is there a “blacklist” on the blockchain? Yes, there is. Tether and major exchanges are tracking high-risk addresses. If your funds come from:

• Wallets involved in gambling/scams
• Entities on the sanctions list
• Known money laundering channels

Congratulations, your funds may have been flagged.

How to rescue yourself? There are now some on-chain verification tools that can scan your USDT/ERC20/TRC20 addresses to check for risk tags. It’s not 100% foolproof, but it’s better than being caught off guard with a freeze. Especially for institutional investors and cross-border merchants, this kind of check has changed from “recommendation” to “must”.

Core Recommendation: Verify the source of funds before large transactions. Regulations are becoming stricter, and “I don’t know” is no longer an excuse.