USDT Frozen by Tether

Tether might flag wallets identified during law enforcement criminal investigations in the United States. If Tether confirms the suspicious activity, it might freeze the USDT.

If Tether is served with an order signed by a judge to seized the USDT, it might freeze the associated USDT and reissued the USDT to a wallet maintained by a federal law enforcement agency in the United States as part of the civil asset forfeiture process.

After the USDT is frozen or seized, the owner of the restricted USDT might be told by the Tether Support Team to contact the lead federal agent assigned to the case. Sometimes, Tether will ask the USDT owner to contact the lead agent investigating the case, usually by providing an email address.

Tether works with authorities in the United States to freeze USDT involved in fraudulent schemes money laundering or drug trafficking operations. Tether has worked with all of the federal agencies in the United States that seize USDT including the DEA, FBI, Secret Service (USSS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Attorney for USDT Frozen by Tether

The attorneys at Sammis Law Firm focus on criminal defense and asset forfeiture cases. We understand why federal agencies freeze or seize cryptocurrency as part of their criminal investigation or civil asset forfeiture proceeding.

We know how to request the freeze is lifted or respond to the seizure. We can help you file a verified claim for court action on the appropriate agency to start the 90 day deadline for the government to either release the funds or file a complaint for forfeiture in the appropriate U.S. District Court.

If an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) files a complaint for forfeiture in the U.S. District Court, we can help you file a judicial claim, answer to the complaint, and motion to dismiss the forfeiture proceeding so the asset is returned to you.

Use the evaluation form on the right side of his website to provide your contact information to request a confidential consultation to discuss your case with an experienced attorney.

Call 813-250-0500.

Examples of Tether’s Freezing USDT for Law Enforcement

The U.S. government has been actively freezing and seizing USDT as part of civil and criminal asset forfeiture proceedings with cooperation from Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin. By freezing or seizing USDT, the federal agencies can target financial crimes including fraud, drug trafficking, and money laundering.

Tether has frozen more than $2.8 billion in USDT across more than 4,500 wallets, including more than 2,750 freezes coordinated with law enforcement agencies in the United States. The wallet-freezing policy adopted by Tether comply with regulatory guidelines including the OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.

In March of 2025, Tether and the U.S. Secret Service froze $23 million allegedly linked to sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex, followed by $9 million linked to the Bybit hack. In June of 2025, Tether worked with the Department of Judice (DOJ) to freeze around $225 million USDT in a law enforcement and civil asset forfeiture action.

In March of 2025, Tether froze $9,000,000 related to the Bybit exchange hack. The case began in 2022, and ended in late 2023. To assist the authorities, Tether froze, burned, and reissued $9,000,000 in USDT from a pig butchering scam.

In June of 2025, federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize approximately $225,000,000 worth of USDT which were allegedly involved in cryptocurrency investment fraud and money laundering. Tether and the crypto exchange OKX froze the assets in cooperation with federal law enforcement agencies in the United States. After freezing the USDT, Tether “burned” the frozen tokens and reissued the equivalent amount to a U.S. government-controlled wallet.

In July of 2025, the the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and Tether announced a civil forfeiture action targeting $2,000,000 in digital currency, including $1,600,000 in USDT, linked to a Gaza-based financial network.

In October of 2024, federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Ohio filed a civil complaint to forfeit $200,000 in USDT. Those assets were traced from a victim in Ohio after their Bitcoin was fraudulently transferred from their wallet. After the transfer, the fraudsters converted the Bitcoin to USDT, and Tether froze the funds at law enforcement’s request. Tether then “burned” the frozen tokens and reissued the equivalent amount to a government-controlled wallet for potential restitution to the victim.

In September of 2025, federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture complaint against $868,247 in Tether (USDT), alleging the funds were the proceeds of multiple cryptocurrency-related confidence scams. The complaint detailed how the funds were laundered through a complex web of cryptocurrency wallets.

In September of 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts filed a civil forfeiture action to recover over $584,000 in cryptocurrency, including USDT, from a wallet allegedly controlled by an Iranian national.

Read more about frozen and seized USDT for forfeiture.

What is Tether?

Tether (“USDT”) is a token issued by Tether Limited. Tether is a decentralized, peer-to-peer form of virtual currency having no association with banks or governments.

Users purchase USDT, which is stored in a user’s digital or cryptocurrency wallet (a “wallet”). USDT is generally considered a “stablecoin,” which is intended to closely approximate the value of the U.S. Dollar and thus can act as a virtual currency store of value similar to the U.S. Dollar.

Stablecoins help achieve their price stability via collateralization (backing) or through algorithmic mechanisms of buying and selling the reference asset or its derivatives. Tether Limited (“Tether”) is the company that manages the smart contracts and the treasury (i.e., the funds held in reserve) for USDT tokens.

For this reason, cryptocurrency traders, both legitimate and illegitimate, will often convert other digital currencies into USDT for temporary or long-term storage, as by design, USDT typically does not experience the dramatic swings in value seen in other digital currencies

How Federal Agencies Freeze USDT on Tether

If you contact the agency that triggered the freeze or seizure of the Tether account, you might receive a generic email. In a recent case involving the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Cyber Support Section, the first email provided:

Good Afternoon,

The United States government has frozen your listed Tether address.  If you have a legal interest in this account, please provide your contact information as your ID did not come through on your email.  If you are represented by legal counsel, please provide their contact information as well.  If you believe your assets were frozen or seized in error, you may provide the DEA with the following information. This information will be used to confirm your identity and evaluate your claim. Providing this information is voluntarily and does not guarantee your funds will be returned:

• Your full name/contact information (address/phone number/email/tether address);
• A selfie-style photograph;
• An image of your passport or other identity documents;
• Information about the transaction(s) at issue, including information about the counterparty;
• Screenshot(s) showing that you have access to the frozen address(es); and
• Any other relevant information about the transaction(s) that you would like to share.

If you would like to receive notice regarding forthcoming forfeiture actions in the United States regarding these funds, please respond to this email with your contact information and/or the contact information for your attorney. That should include your full name and the physical address where notice should be sent. If you’d prefer to receive notice via email, please indicate that in your response and specify the email address to which notice should be sent.

Regards,

Drug Enforcement Administration

Cyber Support Section

If you receive such an email, it might be best to hire an experienced forfeiture attorney to help you communicate with the federal agency so that your funds can be unfrozen. If the funds were already seized, an attorney can help you respond to any complaint for forfeiture filed in the U.S> District Court.

Tether Policy on Law Enforcement Requests to Freeze Assets

The Tether website lists their policy on law enforcement requests for information, or to freeze assets pending seizure, as follows:

Last updated: January 3, 2018

From time to time, Tether receives information requests about its customers from law enforcement agencies around the world. This page is here to provide you and law enforcement with information about how these requests are processed.

When Tether is contacted, law enforcement is generally interested in two types of data: information about customers’ identities and information about their activities using Tether Tokens. As well, as part of their investigation, law enforcement may be interested in requesting that an address is frozen.

When information requests are received, Tether requires that it be accompanied by appropriate legal process. This can vary from place to place. For example, production orders, search warrants, and subpoenas, but also requests for voluntary disclosure of data may all amount to legal process. Tether reviews each order and request for voluntary disclosure to determine that it has valid legal basis and that any response is narrowly tailored to ensure that only the data to which law enforcement is entitled is provided. Similarly, requests to freeze Tether addresses should be accompanied by appropriate legal process.

Tether also reserves the right to make disclosures to authorities in order to protect itself, any Associates, and its customers.

Tether welcomes inquiries from law enforcement agencies about its policies and procedures. Please contact Tether at inforequests@tether.to.

Recent Example of a Notice of Seizure

You can find the notice of seizure listed on the forfeiture.gov website. One recent notice issued by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) on frozen cryptocurrency seized for forfeiture provides:

LEGAL NOTICE
ATTENTION

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) gives notice that the property listed below was seized for federal forfeiture for violation of federal law. Laws and procedures applicable to the forfeiture process can be found at 18 U.S.C. Section 981. See full legal notice on page one, which includes instructions on how to file a claim, a petition, and to request the release of property based on hardship.

LAST DATE TO FILE: 12/08/2025

TAMPA

59250021-01, Approximately 435,479.18 (USDT) Tether that was previously associated with cryptocurrency address ending in 7ytUg4, seized by the IRS – Criminal Investigation on August 12, 2025 from the Tether Organization.

59250023-01, Approximately 218,063.63 Tether (USDT) that was previously associated with cryptocurrency address ending in YepKuc, seized by the IRS – Criminal Investigation on August 12, 2025 from the Tether Organization.

59250024-01, Approximately 301,672.68 Tether (USDT) that was previously associated with cryptocurrency address ending in svpJS6, seized by the IRS – Criminal Investigation on August 12, 2025 from the Tether Organization.

59250025-01, Approximately 50,545.95 Tether (USDT) that was previously associated with cryptocurrency address ending in 3CJ1qT, seized by the IRS – Criminal Investigation on August 12, 2025 from the Tether Organization.

LAST DATE TO FILE: 12/02/2025

NEW YORK

13250063-01, No host Tether wallet (USDT) 1, valued at $396,955.27, seized by the IRS – CI on September 9, 2025 from Tether Limited Inc., by the IRS – CI in Newark, NJ.

Read more about IRS-CI seizures of frozen cryptocurrency for forfeiture.

This article was last updated on Friday, October 24, 2025.