On October 9, 2026, Tether blacklisted four vault addresses belonging to the cross-chain protocol THORChain on the Tron network. This action froze approximately 1.45 million USDT, which accounted for 93% of the protocol's assets on that specific blockchain. The freeze forced THORChain to temporarily halt its Tron-based swaps and liquidity operations.
The co-founder of THORChain, Chad Barraford, stated that the team received no prior notification from Tether regarding the blacklisting. The restriction was lifted three hours later at 15:30 UTC, allowing the protocol to resume its standard operations. Tether has utilized its built-in blacklist function over 11,000 times throughout its history to freeze assets.
THORChain currently manages approximately 47.9 million USD in total liquidity across all assets. The incident highlights the risks for liquidity providers who face exposure to the centralized decisions of the stablecoin issuer. Legal proceedings are currently underway regarding a separate case where Tether is accused of improperly freezing 2.76 million USD.
