Tether Holdings has once again moved to freeze millions in USDT, locking $13.4 million worth of the stablecoin across 22 wallet addresses on the Ethereum and Tron networks, according to blockchain intelligence platform MistTrack.
Summary
- Tether froze $13.4 million in USDT across 22 addresses this month, continuing its practice of halting suspicious funds as part of compliance and law enforcement cooperation.
- The freeze comes as Texas-based Riverstone Consulting files a lawsuit against Tether, alleging unlawful freezing of $44.7 million.
- While the company hasn’t explained the latest move, past freezes have often been linked to investigations into fraud, terrorism financing, and sanctions violations.
Tether Freezes $13.4 Million Across 22 Addresses
According to MistTrack, the latest freeze targeted 22 addresses spanning Ethereum and Tron though the origins of these funds remain unclear. The largest portion of the frozen assets, roughly $10.3 million in USDT, was held in a single Ethereum wallet beginning with 0xecbd8. Another major address, starting with TYzDeb, contained about 1.4 million USDT.
The action adds to a growing list of similar enforcement measures by Tether over the past year. The company routinely blocks funds tied to illicit activity or sanctioned entities, working alongside global regulators and financial intelligence units.
A Pattern of Targeted Freezes
Tether’s move follows a string of high-value freezes throughout 2025.
- In June 2025, the company froze over $12.3 million worth of USDT on the Tron network.
- In April 2025, another $28.67 million was frozen across 13 addresses.
- One of its largest operations came in March 2025, when $28 million in USDT was locked on the Russian crypto exchange Garantex, a platform later sanctioned for facilitating illicit transactions.
Even after that freeze, blockchain analytics firm Global Ledger found that Garantex still held around $15 million in active reserves.
Tether has frozen an address holding more than $10 million in USDT as part of its monitoring operations | Source: MistTrack
Why Tether Freezes Funds
While Tether has not yet issued a statement about the latest action, its policies are well established. The stablecoin issuer frequently cooperates with law enforcement and international agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), FBI, and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) when wallets are linked to crimes like terrorism financing, fraud, or human trafficking.
The company also acts preemptively to comply with anti-money-laundering (AML) and sanctions laws. If wallets show connections to sanctioned entities, darknet markets, or mixers like Tornado Cash, Tether will freeze them to prevent further illicit activity.
Legal Backlash: Riverstone Consulting Sues Tether
Not everyone agrees with Tether’s approach. Riverstone Consulting, a Texas-based firm, filed a lawsuit accusing Tether of wrongfully freezing $44.7 million in USDT.
According to the lawsuit, Tether’s freeze in April 2025 targeted eight of Riverstone’s wallets following a request from Bulgarian authorities. The company claims that Tether’s actions violated the Bulgarian International Judicial Assistance Treaty, which mandates that cross-border legal requests must go through official diplomatic channels.
Riverstone further alleges that when it reached out to Tether, the company advised it to contact Bulgarian officials directly but those authorities never responded. The firm argues that the freeze caused it to miss key investment opportunities, leading to significant financial losses.
Tether Defends Its Compliance Record
Despite the criticism, Tether maintains that its actions are part of a broader global compliance strategy. In a September 15 press release, the company reported freezing over $3.2 billion in USDT linked to criminal or high-risk activity, in cooperation with 290+ law enforcement agencies across 59 countries.
Over the past year alone, Tether claims to have blocked 3,660 wallets, underscoring its role as both a leading stablecoin issuer and a de facto compliance partner for regulators worldwide.
