BitOK says Tether has improved the speed at which it freezes blacklisted USDT addresses, yet the gap between submission and on-chain execution still leaves room for large transfers. The blockchain analytics firm said the median time from submission to execution on Ethereum fell from 3 hours and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 46 minutes, while Tron dropped from 1 hour and 57 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Even with that improvement, BitOK recorded 107 "clean interception" cases over the past 12 months, where criminals moved funds out of target addresses before the freeze was fully executed. The report said $127.6 million was transferred during that window, 6.1 times the amount seen a year earlier. BitOK also said the first approval in a multisig wallet still exposes the target address on-chain, creating an opportunity for funds to be moved.
The research added that Tether has helped law enforcement freeze more than $300 million across 23 jurisdictions. Still, large sums can leave addresses within minutes after the process starts. In one June 2025 case cited in the report, $37.3 million in USDT was moved two minutes before final approval.
Blockchain analytics firm BitOK says Tether has become faster at freezing blacklisted USDT addresses than it was a year ago, though the time between a freeze request and final execution still allows criminals to move large amounts of money.
According to the research, the median time from submission to execution on Ethereum fell from 3 hours and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 46 minutes. On Tron, the median time dropped from 1 hour and 57 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes.
107 clean interception cases in the past 12 months
BitOK said there were still 107 "clean interception" incidents over the past 12 months. In those cases, criminals transferred funds out of target addresses during the interval between the submission of a freeze and its execution.
The report said those incidents involved $127.6 million in transfers, or 6.1 times the amount recorded in the previous year.
First multisig approval exposes the target address
The research said the first approval in a multisig wallet still exposes the target address on-chain, creating a window in which funds can be moved.
Tether has helped freeze more than $300 million
BitOK said Tether has assisted law enforcement in freezing more than $300 million across 23 jurisdictions. Even so, the data shows that criminals can still move large sums within minutes after the freeze process begins.
In one case from June 2025 cited in the report, $37.3 million in USDT was moved two minutes before final approval.
Techub carried the item and cited BeInCrypto.
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