Tether Freezes Nearly $182M in USDT Across Five Tron Wallets

Tether has frozen almost $182 million in USDT across five wallet addresses on the Tron blockchain, according to Whale Alert’s on-chain data on January 11.

The stablecoin issuer reportedly froze individual wallet balances ranging from $12 million to $50 million in a single day. This coordinated action represents one of the most significant single-day wallet freezes on Tron in recent months.

A Tether spokesperson told The Block:

“Tether has frozen assets in connection with an ongoing investigation, following a formal request from law enforcement authorities. The relevant agency has been working on this case for several months.”

The company emphasized that it has a long history of cooperating with legitimate investigations by freezing addresses linked to illegal activities or sanctions violations. Tether also maintains ongoing collaborations with law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Why Tether Froze the Tron Wallets

The January 11 blacklistings align with Tether’s voluntary wallet-freezing policy, formally introduced in December 2023. This policy supports compliance with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.

According to Tether’s terms of service, the company may freeze wallet addresses or disclose user information when legally required or when deemed necessary for compliance and security purposes.

Tether’s enforcement activity remains far more extensive than that of its closest competitor. In December 2025, blockchain analytics firm AMLBot reported that the total value of USDT frozen by Tether since 2023 is nearly 30 times higher than the $109 million in USDC frozen by Circle over the same period.

Data from The Block shows that USDT dominates the stablecoin market, with approximately $187 billion in circulation, representing 64% of the total $292 billion stablecoin market. In comparison, the total supply of USDC is close to $75 billion.

Stablecoins have increasingly become the preferred medium for illegal cryptocurrency transactions. According to recent Chainalysis research, stablecoins accounted for 84% of illicit crypto transaction volume in 2025, with an estimated lower-bound value of $154 billion.