"At its discretion": Tether can freeze the terms of your USDT without a court order

持有USDT：你拥有的不是银行存款，而是对一家私营公司的债权

持有USDT并不意味着你拥有银行余额，而是持有一项针对私营公司的债权。该公司有权将特定地址列入黑名单，且这一操作屡见不鲜。这种权力源于Tether的服务条款，其范围远超大多数持有者的预期：当法律要求时，Tether可以冻结余额；此外，只要公司认为审慎，即可依其自由裁量权随时冻结。

自2026年10月5日起，一起在美国联邦法院进行的诉讼正是针对该条款发起挑战。支付公司Conduit Technology在曼哈顿提起诉讼，因其企业国库中的276万枚USDT自2025年9月24日起被冻结。近期的媒体报道对此事件进行了报道。对于持有者而言，一个未被回答的关键问题是：此类冻结的依据是什么？对你的余额又有何影响？

本文解读了原始条款，阐述了其中的争议点，并推导出你可以对照自身情况检查的要点。鉴于争议尚未裁决，本文不作预判。

Tether服务条款中关于冻结USDT的字面含义

Governing's rules are the Token Sales and Service Terms, Tether's rulebook for the purchase, redemption and custody of its tokens. The February 26, 2026 version stipulates that Tether can suspend or terminate the use of its services and "freeze any Tether tokens you hold." Three triggers were then listed: when a legal requirement applies, when you violate a term or applicable law, and when Tether "believes it prudent to do so under its arbitrariness."

The third trigger has the same status as the other two. It does not require a court order, an authority order, or a default by the holder. In terms of wording, as long as the company's suspicions are well-founded (even if they are just its own), they are sufficient to constitute a reason.

Another provision in the same article goes further. In the case of suspected illegal use, possible measures include reporting to authorities without notifying affected persons, freezing or confiscating balances,"blacklist any digital token address where Tether tokens are held," and clarifying that Tether can "seize and hand over your property to authorities at its absolute discretion." "Property" here refers to what belongs to you, not what belongs to the publisher.

Blacklist brief description: Blacklist is a registry of blockchain addresses where issuers make balances at these addresses unavailable. The address is still visible and the amount remains the same, but all transfers made from that address will fail.

"Under its arbitrariness": Why these three words are at the core of controversy

In contract drafting,"sole discretion" is a standard formula, meaning that one party makes the decision alone and does not need to give reasons. This is common when it comes to secondary issues such as website design. Once it controls access to assets belonging to others, it becomes unusual.

Criticism begins here. At banks, freezing accounts requires a legal basis and customers can request review. In the field of stablecoins, a set of standard clauses has replaced this chain. Whether such a broad text is valid is a legal issue that has not yet been ruled by a court.

A counterexample helps illustrate this. In September 2026,$83 million worth of stolen XRPs appeared at Ripple, but the company was unable to freeze them because XRP Ledger itself does not provide such token capabilities. We explain the limitations of this technology in our analysis of "freezable and non-freezable tokens". Therefore, the freezing function of USDT is not a natural function of the blockchain, but is deliberately built in by someone.

Blacklisting mechanism: How freezes written to USDT contracts work on blockchain

USDT runs as programs on other networks, mainly on Ethereum and Wave Field networks, without its own independent network. This program (known in technical terms as a smart contract) keeps a list of all balances and determines whether each transfer goes through. The blacklist is located in this list.

Brief introduction of smart contracts: Smart contracts are programs running on the blockchain and their rules can be read by anyone. The writer determines what special rights the publisher retains.

Once Tether puts an address on the list, the program checks to see if the address is blocked on each attempt to send and aborts the transaction. The balance does not disappear in the process. It is still visible in blockchain browsers and can be accurate to the point. Nevertheless, it cannot be moved. Our guide details how to step by step check whether your own address is blacklisted.

Technically, the same logic applies to every token with an issuer. To understand the level of control within stablecoins, please read the program's functions and ignore the marketing copy. Our overview of key USDT controls shows who has what power behind the scenes.

In federal court in Manhattan, the issue was contract licensing, and technical capabilities were beyond doubt.

Conduit Technology's lawsuit over USDT 2.76 million

Conduit Technology engages in cross-border payments. According to the company, since May 2025, it holds USDT in corporate wallets, which are considered the equivalent of commercial bank accounts. According to reports, Tether froze all of its 2.76 million USDT positions on September 24, 2025. A complaint filed in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 5, 2026, stated that Tether had "no legal rights" or "no rights to claim" against the funds.

According to the complaint, the background is the Brazilian Federal Police investigation into two financial intermediaries in 2024. Conduit submitted that one of them was a former customer who had not used the platform since April 2025, and that the frozen wallet had never held the customer's funds. According to reports, Tether "proactively conducted attribution based on its own standards." Details have been summarized by the media.

Special instructions on procedural status: All these details are from the plaintiff's statement. The court has not yet reviewed these elements. As of now, Tether has not made a public statement on this lawsuit. The outcome of the lawsuit is uncertain.

The eye-catching thing about this case is not the amount, but the attack point. Conduit does not deny that Tether can technically block addresses. The issue is whether the terms of service cover this behavior in this case.

Second case: USDT 42.4 million and Tether's response

Conduit's lawsuit is not the only challenge to the discretion clause. About a month ago, two Thai businessmen sued Tether over the 42.4 million USDT freeze. The funds are linked to ongoing fraud lawsuits in the United States totaling $61 million. Again, there is no verdict here.

In response to the lawsuits, Tether issued a statement calling the lawsuit an "unwarranted attempt to interfere with the important work of Tether and global law enforcement." This is the company's position, but also describes its view on the substance: Tether views the freeze function as a tool to fight crime.

Large-scale use of this tool has been documented. In September 2026, we reported on the freezing of USDT worth $550 million related to Iran and the ensuing pressure from the U.S. Senate. Both interpretations of the clause face the same practice: it is effective for law enforcement, but there is little means of counterattack for those wrongly implicated.

Self-custody ensures the validity of keys, not tokens.

A common misconception is that your personal wallet is protected from freezing. This is not the case because of the division of labor between keys and tokens.

Your private key proves that you are qualified to dispose of an address. As long as you keep the key, no one can take away this certificate. However, whether transfers from this address are approved is determined by the issuer's procedures. In Bitcoin, these two roles overlap because there is no issuer. In stablecoins, they remain separate.

In practice, this means that a hardware wallet protects you from theft, exchange downtime, and trading platform bankruptcy. But it doesn't protect you from the publisher's decisions. Holding USDT for a long time as a store of value and transferring it to your own wallet will not transfer this risk. To do this, the assets themselves must change.

Your personal wallet ensures access to the address. Whether a token can be moved remains the decision of the issuer.

MiCA and USDT: What missing authorizations mean for German holders

In the European Union, the Cryptocurrency Asset Markets Regulation (MiCA) regulates who can issue and trade stablecoins. Tether has not applied for authorization to use USDT as an e-currency token, so large platforms have stopped or restricted USDT transactions for EU customers. The obligations behind them are detailed in our overview of cryptocurrency company MiCA's obligations.

Brief description of electronic currency tokens: Electronic currency tokens are stablecoins pegged to a single official currency, and their issuers require regulatory approval. Once licensed, requirements for reserve, redemption and complaint procedures must be met.

For German holders, this has a counter-expected consequence. The less USDT transacts on regulated European platforms, the more often it exists in self-managed wallets or non-EU providers. Both routes bypass European complaint channels and eventually return to the first part of the terms of service. Our report shows how this practice unfolds in practice.

stablecoin alternatives: A comparison of USDC and EURC as e-currency tokens

There are two levers for anyone who wants to limit discretionary risk. The first is the issuer, and the second is the holding period.

About the issuer: USDC and EURC have obtained electronic currency token authorization in the EU. Authorization does not mean that freezing is excluded, because these tokens also have a freezing function in the program. But it changed the rules surrounding it because issuers are supervised, must meet redemption obligations and provide channels for complaints. Which stablecoin is built in what way can be seen in stablecoin comparison.

第二个杠杆是关于习惯。稳定币的设计是作为中转站，用于两笔交易之间或两个网络之间的过渡。六位数金额的停留时间越长，与价格波动无关的风险就越大。对于短期过渡，由于流动性，USDT仍然实用。作为数月的价值储存，即使是价格看起来平静，它也是成本更高的选择。

持有者可以从条款中得出的四点建议

从措辞和两组诉讼中，可以得出四个可验证的要点。其中任何一个都不需要法律知识。

第一，地址。在区块链浏览器中查找你的接收地址是否在黑名单上。这需要两分钟，且免费。

第二，来源。在已知案例中，冻结影响到显示出与调查有关联的地址，包括通过前商业伙伴间接关联的情况。接受来自未知第三方的付款会增加这种风险，而你甚至不会知情。

第三，分散。单一容器是最脆弱的存储形式。Conduit在诉状中描述了完全相同的情况：一个充当业务账户的钱包，随着冻结，业务停滞不前。

第四，记录文件夹。保留购买记录、转账确认书和通信记录，以便在没有长时间搜索的情况下阐明金额的来源。在这两起待决案件中，争议正是围绕这一证据链展开的。

USDT Freeze: Without your own key, Tether's clause determines everything alone

The clause has existed in the terms of service for years; what's new is that it is being tested in court. Until then, it will still be the guideline for adjusting your behavior.

Determine what stablecoins you use for. Between two transactions, liquidity is crucial; for long-term holding, the issuer's legal framework is crucial. The difference lies in the stablecoin comparison.

Separates custody from transactions. Things you don't actively trade should be stored in your own custody. For which devices are suitable for this task, see Hardware Wallet Comparison.

Select your platform based on your authorization. Regulated providers provide you with complaint channels that are not available for contracts under foreign law. For which institutions hold European licenses, please refer to the Overview of Regulated Cryptocurrency Exchanges.

(As of October 8, 2026. This article does not constitute investment advice. Price and fee structures are subject to change; please check terms with your provider before purchasing.)