THORChain technical co-founder Chad Barraford said Tether blacklisted the network's USDT vaults Friday, freezing approximately 1.45 million USDT across four wallet addresses. Tether restored access hours later, allowing trading to resume about two hours after the freeze.
Barraford posted on X that THORChain received no communication from Tether before the action. He said the team was reaching out to Tether about the incident, expressing hope the freeze resulted from an "error or misunderstanding."
The blacklisting underscores the centralized control stablecoin issuers retain over their tokens even when deployed across decentralized protocols. On THORChain, which facilitates cross-chain asset swaps, Tether's ability to freeze addresses directly impacts liquidity and trading.
The incident follows other recent allegations against Tether for freezing assets. Earlier this week, cross-border payments platform Conduit Technology filed a lawsuit alleging Tether froze $2.76 million in USDT in a wallet connected to a 2024 Brazilian investigation.
In August, two Thai nationals sued Tether, claiming the company froze $42.4 million in USDT following an informal request from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations. These cases illustrate Tether's pattern of using its blacklisting capabilities in response to external requests or internal decisions.
