Tether freezes cross $2 billion in 2026 - driven by Iran actions
The value of USDT frozen in 2026 has already crossed $2 billion. This is already more than any year other year, with Iran-linked addresses making up at least 27% of the total.
In 2026, the value of USDT frozen by Tether crossed $2 billion for the first time. Addresses blacklisted this year held just over $2.06 billion at the moment they were frozen, more than in any other year on record, and 43% above the previous high, set in 2024.
A new record, by a wide margin
USDT freezing has grown almost every year since Tether's first blacklisting in 2017, but 2026 stands apart. The year's $2.06 billion eclipses 2024's $1.44 billion and 2025's $1.27 billion, and it dwarfs the early years entirely: as recently as 2020, the annual total was under $100 million.
Put another way, more USDT was frozen so far in 2026 than in every year from 2017 through 2023 combined.
Iran-linked freezes jump in 2026
A large share of the 2026 increase can be attributed to Iran. Our crowd-sourced intelligence attributes at least $562 million of the year's frozen value (about 27% of the total) to Iran-linked entities.
That is a step change. In 2025, Iran-linked freezes came to just $2.9 million; in 2026 they are almost 200 times larger.
Three TRON freezes on April 23 2026 make up the bulk of the total:
TNiq9AXBp9EjUqhDhrwrfvAA8U3GUQZH81 - $212.9 million
TTiDLWE6fZK8okMJv6ijg42yrH6W2pjSr9 - $131.3 million
TFQbqaNbmq2xsVor2NbufLkYZvxFC9wC7k - $85.5 million
All three of these addresses were linked to the Central Bank of Iran by the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") of the US Department of the Treasury, on July 14 2026.
The freezings of the first two addresses represent the first and second-largest USDT freezes of all time.
How these figures are calculated
These totals use the same methodology as the rest of blocklist.fyi:
What is counted. Only executed blacklisting (freeze) events are summed. Freezes that are only proposed and not yet confirmed - shown on the site as pending - are excluded until they execute, and unblacklistings and destroys are tracked separately rather than netted out of this figure.
Counted once per freeze episode. An episode runs from a blacklisting until the address is unblacklisted. Only the first blacklisting in an episode is summed, so an issuer re-marking an already-frozen address does not count the same trapped balance twice; a fresh freeze after an unblacklisting is a new episode and counts again. A destroy does not end an episode.
Valued at the balance when frozen. Each freeze is valued at the address's balance at the moment it was frozen, not what the address holds today. Deposits that arrive after a freeze are excluded.
Blockchains. USDT freezes are collected from every network where Tether issues USDT natively and the freeze is observable on-chain. Bridged or wrapped USDT that the issuer cannot freeze, for example Binance-Peg USDT on BNB Chain, is not counted.
Iran-linked. The Iran-linked totals cover addresses carrying a verified Iran intelligence tag on blocklist.fyi as of publication. Tagging is ongoing, so the Iran-linked share is a floor, not a ceiling.
Full definitions are on the methodology page.
