Tether blocks Ethereum address with crypto assets worth more than $1 million

The issuer of the USDT stablecoin, Tether, has placed on the blacklist an Ethereum address holding crypto assets worth more than $1 million. Data from Etherscan and Dune Analytics show this.

On December 30, Tether invoked the function ‘AddedBlacklist’ against the corresponding address. The owner of the address and the reasons for its block remain unknown.

Tether began blocking in late 2017. To date, the issuer’s blacklist comprises 560 addresses.

The chart below shows that the growth in the number of blocked addresses accelerated in the second half of 2020.

Owners of blacklisted addresses cannot send, receive or redeem USDT.

According to The Block, Tether has a “funds-recovery mechanism” — in some cases the issuer can freeze USDT and then reissue them. For example, if someone sent stablecoins to an incorrect address, the company can help recover the funds — freeze the coins at the wrong address and issue new USDT to the user.

By freezing addresses, Tether can help recover funds stolen by hackers,

Earlier, the Poly Network hack reimbursed the project for all stolen crypto assets except for $33 million in USDT, which Tether froze after the attack.

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