Tether freezes $182M in USDT across five Tron wallets in action coordinated with U.S. authorities

first published 2026-01-12T04:02:34Z

On Jan. 11, 2026 Tether used issuer‑level administrative keys to freeze roughly $182 million in USDT across five Tron (TRX) wallets (wallets held about $12M–$50M each). Tether says freezes are used to comply with legal/AML requests; reporting indicates the action was carried out in coordination with U.S. authorities including the DOJ and FBI. AMLBot data show Tether froze over $3 billion from 2023–2025, and Chainalysis reports stablecoins accounted for ~84% of illicit crypto activity by end of 2025. Critics highlight the freezes as evidence of centralized “kill switch” power distinguishing stablecoins from decentralized assets like Bitcoin.

AI Analysis

Tether froze a concrete $182M in USDT across five Tron wallets and used issuer‑level administrative keys; the action was coordinated with DOJ and FBI per the summary. AMLBot’s $3B frozen (2023–2025) and Chainalysis’ ~84% illicit-activity share for stablecoins are cited facts. Those facts justify a negative sentiment (centralized freezes undermine trust) and a moderate market impact (large, concrete freezes and law‑enforcement coordination can influence short-term trading).

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