Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, froze approximately $13.4 million in USDT across 22 wallet addresses on the Ethereum and Tron networks on October 16, 2025. The action was confirmed by on-chain analytics firm MistTrack, which reported that the freeze included a significant Ethereum wallet starting with "0xecbd8" holding $10.3 million and a Tron wallet beginning with "TYzDeb" containing $1.4 million, accounting for over 86% of the total frozen funds.
The market reacted swiftly, with Tron's native token TRX experiencing a 3.23% decline in price, underscoring concerns over liquidity and market sentiment. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized the company's commitment to compliance, stating, "Tether remains committed to compliance and regularly exercises its authority to freeze assets when necessary." This freeze is part of Tether's broader efforts to adhere to regulatory obligations, often in coordination with law enforcement agencies like the FBI, DOJ, and OFAC, targeting wallets linked to crimes such as fraud, terrorism financing, and sanctions violations.
Historically, Tether has conducted similar operations throughout 2025, including freezing $12.3 million in June, $28.67 million in April on the Tron network, and $28 million from Russian exchange Garantex in March. Overall, Tether has frozen over $3.2 billion in USDT associated with criminal activity, collaborating with 290 law enforcement agencies across 59 countries and blocking 3,660 wallets in the past year. However, the action has faced legal challenges, such as a lawsuit from Riverstone Consultancy over a $44.7 million freeze, alleging procedural issues, though Tether maintains its decisions are based on verified intelligence and legal guidance.
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