THORChain exec accuses Tether of freezing USDT vaults without explanation

Tether freezing USDT vaults — THORChain technical co-founder Chad Barraford has accused stablecoin issuer Tether of blacklisting and then unfreezing the network’s USDT vaults without explanation, temporarily locking up over 1.4 million USDT.

In a social media post on October 9, Barraford stated that Tether blacklisted four THORChain vault addresses, freezing a combined 1.45 million USDT. He reported that trading resumed about two hours later after the company unfroze all the addresses.

“We don’t know why this choice was made and have had no comms with USDT before this action and are actively reaching out to have a conversation,” Barraford said before the addresses were unfrozen. He expressed hope that the action was an error or misunderstanding.

The incident follows other recent legal challenges for Tether. Earlier in the week, cross-border payments platform Conduit Technology filed a lawsuit alleging Tether froze $2.76 million in USDT tied to a Brazilian investigation. In August, two Thai nationals sued the company for allegedly freezing $42.4 million after an informal request from US Homeland Security Investigations.