According to on-chain data monitoring tool Whale Alert, on Sunday, Tether simultaneously froze over 182 million USDT across 5 wallet addresses on the Tron blockchain, marking the largest freeze operation on the Tron chain in recent months.
On-chain data shows that these 5 addresses hold between approximately 12 million and 50 million USD worth of USDT; as for the specific reasons for freezing these assets, Tether has not yet provided an explanation.
The freeze action on January 11 coincides with Tether’s official implementation of its wallet freezing policy starting in December 2023. This policy is primarily designed to comply with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) “Specially Designated Nationals (SDN)” sanctions list.
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, freezing a total of over 3 billion USD worth of USDT.
By July 2025, just in cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and the Secret Service, Tether has frozen over 2,380 wallets with assets totaling approximately 1.14 billion USD.
Tether freezes 182 million USD USDT involving 5 Tron wallets
Interestingly, Tether’s enforcement strength shows a significant gap compared to its competitor Circle (issuer of USDC). According to a report published by analytics firm AMLBot in December 2025, the total value of assets frozen by Tether since 2023 is 30 times that of Circle (109 million USD).
Currently, USDT has a circulating supply of over 187 billion USD, capturing 64% of the stablecoin market share. In contrast, USDC, which follows a compliant route and is based in the U.S., maintains a total supply of around 75 billion USD.
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