Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, said the frozen tokens were associated with alleged criminal activity. According to Reuters, citing the company, the El Salvador–based firm took these steps amid intensified scrutiny from regulators and law enforcement agencies, which have stepped up efforts to combat crypto fraud and sanctions evasion.
Tether has the technical capability to freeze tokens directly on the blockchain by placing specific wallet addresses on a blacklist at the request of government authorities.
USDT remains the largest stablecoin on the market, with a circulating supply exceeding $180 billion, compared with around $70 billion three years ago.
According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, by the end of 2025 stablecoin issuers including Tether and Circle had blacklisted around 5,700 wallets holding a combined total of roughly $2.5 billion. About 75% of those addresses contained USDT at the time they were frozen.
