Tether froze 182 million USDT in a single day, with stablecoins dominating illegal cryptocurrency flows

Whale Alert data shows that on January 11, Tether froze over $182 million in USDT within 24 hours, targeting 5 Tron chain wallets, with individual amounts ranging from $12 million to $50 million.

Although cryptocurrencies are designed to be censorship-resistant, stablecoins, which account for 60% of the market, are highly centralized. Tether has the ability to instantly freeze funds at the smart contract level and frequently collaborates with the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, and Secret Service for enforcement.

Chainalysis data indicates that by the end of 2025, stablecoins will account for 84% of all illegal transaction volume. An AMLBot report states that from 2023 to 2025, Tether froze approximately $3.3 billion in assets and blacklisted 7,268 wallet addresses. Nevertheless, the market capitalization of USDT still reaches $187 billion, accounting for 60% of the stablecoin market.