World's Largest Stablecoin Issuer Freezes Record $344 Million On Tron Network

• Tether said the freeze followed information tied to suspected sanctions evasion or criminal activity, though details were not disclosed.
• Blockchain security firm PeckShield first flagged the wallet blacklisting before Tether confirmed it.
• Tether said it works with over 340 law enforcement agencies globally and has frozen more than $4.4 billion in assets to date.

Tether (USDT) said on Friday that it supported the freeze of more than $344 million in USDT across two Tron (TRX) addresses, confirming an earlier on-chain blacklist action that appears to be one of the largest in the company’s history.

The company said the freeze was carried out in coordination with the Office of Foreign Assets Control and U.S. law enforcement, following information tied to suspected unlawful activity.

Tron’s price edged 0.1% lower in the last 24 hours, amid weakness in the broader market. Bitcoin (BTC) was down 1.3% to around $78,300. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the Justin Sun-led enterprise trended in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, accompanied by ‘high’ levels of chatter. 

Tether did not disclose details of the underlying investigation or when the wallets were first flagged. It said the action was linked to potential sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illicit conduct. However, the move comes after Sun sued the Trump family-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFI) on allegations that the project froze over $1 billion of his tokens last year.

Tether’s Largest USDT Freeze

"USDT is not a safe haven for illicit activity," CEO Paolo Ardoino said in the company’s statement, adding that Tether moves quickly when it identifies credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal actors.

In total, the company said it has frozen more than $4.4 billion in assets, including over $2.1 billion linked to U.S. authorities.

Previous actions include a $225 million freeze in November 2023 tied to a Southeast Asia human trafficking and “pig butchering” case, and another $182 million freeze across five Tron wallets earlier this year.

Retail sentiment around Tether on Stocktwits dipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past day, and chatter fell to ‘high’ from ‘extremely high’ levels. 

Blockchain security firm PeckShield had earlier reported that two Tron wallets — TNiq9...QZH81 and TTiDL...pjSr9 — were blacklisted on April 23. At the time, neither Tether nor Tron had publicly explained the move.

On-chain data showed one address held roughly $213 million in USDT, while the second contained about $131 million, bringing the total to more than $344 million.

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