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2 clusters · 11 sources · 3 days · First seen · Last updated

Tether USDT freeze in THORChain vaults

Overview

On October 9, 2026, Tether temporarily froze approximately $1.45 million in USDT held within four of THORChain’s six Tron-based vaults. The freeze lasted roughly three hours, during which THORChain suspended cross-chain swaps, liquidity provider activities, and outbound transfers to prevent transactions from entering unfinishable routes. This disruption impacted roughly 93% of the protocol’s USDT liquidity on the Tron network.

THORChain co-founder Chad Barraford noted that the protocol received no prior warning regarding the blacklisting. While the $1.45 million in THORChain vaults was unfrozen, 19 other blockchain addresses remain frozen. The incident has highlighted vulnerabilities in decentralized infrastructure, specifically how a protocol can lose the ability to move centrally issued assets like USDT due to issuer-level restrictions.

Entities

Tether · THORChain · Chad Barraford · TRON · TRON

Timeline

  1. [BUSINESS] 4 sources
    Tether unfreezes $1.45M in USDT within THORChain vaults

    Tether unfreezes $1.45 million in USDT across four THORChain vaults on the TRON blockchain three hours after a liquidity disruption.

  2. [TECHNOLOGY] 7 sources
    Tether freezes $1.45M in THORChain USDT vaults for three hours

    Tether froze $1.45 million in USDT across four THORChain Tron vaults for approximately three hours, temporarily halting protocol liquidity and swaps before restoring access without explanation.

Sources

ambcrypto.com · blockchainreporter.net · crypto-news-flash.com · cryptobriefing.com · cryptoslate.com · kryptolehti.fi · merca2.es · tokenpost.com · tokenpost.kr · tradingview.com · u.today