Analysis: Tether can permanently clear the blacklist of USDT

Account @blockchainchick stated that Tether's USDT contract has included the destroyBlackFunds function since its deployment on Ethereum in 2017. This function first confirms that the address has been blacklisted, then reads its balance, sets the balance to zero, deducts the corresponding amount from the total supply, and records the event, with no function available to reverse it.

The account mentioned that the relevant blacklist function names the target address as _evilUser, and only Tether's multi-signature owners can invoke it on Ethereum and Tron. It also stated that Tether can subsequently mint an equivalent amount of USDT to the selected address, keeping the net supply unchanged; the U.S. Department of Justice described this process in a March 2025 forfeiture case in Massachusetts, involving approximately $9,016,612 USDT. The account also claimed that USDC can restrict wallets but cannot destroy balances, and believes this mechanism has been operating on Tron and Ethereum with owners, while Bitcoin does not have this feature.