Tether Freezes 1.45 Million USDT Across Four THORChain Vaults

Tether's Action on THORChain Vaults

Tether has placed four THORChain vaults on the TRON network under a blacklist, freezing around 1.45 million USDT, which is equivalent to approximately $1.45 million. In response to this, THORChain halted all TRON-related transactions, signatures, and liquidity provision tasks but has indicated plans to resume these activities, although the actual resumption date has not been confirmed.

According to researcher Khal, based on TRON block 86958330, of the six THORChain vaults, four contained around 1.45 million USDT. He noted that approximately 93% of THORChain's TRON-based USDT is currently frozen. However, this figure has not been independently verified against on-chain raw data.

Khal mentioned that THORChain stopped TRON transactions and related operations about 27 minutes after the blacklisting was enacted. Additionally, there was mention of around 363,000 USDT pending disbursement, though this amount does not equate to user losses.

Chad Barraford, a developer at THORChain, stated that he was not notified in advance by Tether regarding the blacklisting. Subsequently, Barraford indicated that the freeze might be lifted and that they plan to resume transactions, but the exact timing for this has not been confirmed. Tether's blacklisting action highlights that protocols supporting asset exchanges across multiple blockchains, like THORChain, can have their vaults affected by the issuer's freezing authority. The specific reasons for the blacklisting have not been disclosed. Khal suggested that THORChain might not have been the primary target, as other wallets were also blacklisted, though this remains his interpretation rather than an official statement from Tether.

The implications of this incident underline the need for users to be aware of the potential for freezes on assets held in protocols, particularly those that involve cross-chain transactions.

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