USDT blacklist check

Tether can freeze any address on the USDT contract. A frozen address can no longer transfer its USDT (the contract rejects transfers from it), and issuers may also destroy frozen balances. This USDT blacklist check calls the official contract's blacklist function live, with no cached labels and no third-party scores. Sanctions list data is shown alongside. Tron requires our TronGrid access to be configured. If it is not, the result says unavailable, never "not frozen".

What a USDT freeze means for a broker

A deposit from a frozen address has, in practice, already been flagged by the issuer, usually at the request of law enforcement. Accepting funds from it, or paying out to it, is a strong indicator your compliance file should be able to explain. A "not frozen" result is not clearance: Tether only freezes what it is asked to, and most sanctioned or scam-linked addresses are never frozen.

How to read the result

FROZEN means the official contract returned true for isBlackListed at the moment you asked. NOT FROZEN means it returned false. UNAVAILABLE means the chain could not be read. A failed check is never shown as "not frozen".

What a freeze does on the USDT contract

On Ethereum the contract checks only the sender against the blacklist. A frozen address cannot send, but it can still receive, and whatever arrives is stuck with the rest. The contract owner can also call destroyBlackFunds, which zeroes the frozen balance and reduces the total supply by the same amount. So for a broker the risk runs both ways: a client paying in from a frozen address, and a client withdrawing to one, where the payout would be trapped.

KYTGate records the freeze status at the moment of each deposit and withdrawal inside a signed Decision Receipt, so the state you acted on can be proven later even if the address is frozen afterwards.

USDT addresses frozen right now, by chain

Tron

7,989

973 lifted

Ethereum

2,821

343 lifted

Avalanche

2 lifted

Addresses whose latest event on the contract is a freeze, read from the contracts' own blacklist events. “≥” means that contract's history is still being read. Coverage per contract is on the stablecoin freeze tracker.

Questions people ask

Can a frozen USDT address still receive USDT?

On Ethereum, yes. The USDT contract checks only the sender against the blacklist, so tokens can still be sent to a frozen address, where they are then stuck. That is why a deposit address you give a client must never be one that could itself be frozen, and why a freeze check on the sender is not enough on its own.

Can Tether take back frozen USDT?

Tether's USDT contract has a destroyBlackFunds function: the owner can zero a blacklisted address's balance and reduce the total supply by the same amount. Tether has also reissued equivalent USDT to victims or authorities in some cases. Either way, the holder cannot move the funds.

Does a bridged or 'USDT' token on another chain have a freeze?

Only the official Tether contracts carry Tether's blacklist. A bridged token or a token that merely uses the USDT symbol has no Tether freeze at all, which is also why a deposit in it is not USDT for settlement purposes. The official contract list is in the guide linked below.

Is a frozen address a sanctioned address?

Not necessarily. A freeze is Tether's own action on its contract. A sanctions designation is a government listing with legal duties attached. They overlap but neither implies the other, so this page shows both results side by side.

Check every USDT deposit before you credit it

KYTGate screens each crypto deposit and withdrawal against the OFAC, UK and EU lists and the USDT/USDC issuer freezes, decides under your written policy, and keeps a signed record an auditor can check without us.

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