Tether froze $182 million in $USDT today, flagged by Whale Alert as one of the largest single-day actions on record. Since 2023, they've locked over $3 billion from more than 7,000 addresses. Chainalysis now shows stablecoins accounting for the majority of illicit crypto flows, which makes enforcement tools like this more visible — and more controversial.
What stands out here isn't just the size of the freeze, but the fact that this level of control exists in what's marketed as decentralized infrastructure. It's not new, but each large action reminds the market that $USDT operates with a centralized override switch. Some see it as compliance.
Others see it as proof that not all digital dollars are created equal.