TETHER CAN DELETE YOUR BALANCE. IT'S WRITTEN INTO THE CODE. Not...
Heidi@blockchainchick
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Oct 18, 2026
~1 min read
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TETHER CAN DELETE YOUR BALANCE. IT'S WRITTEN INTO THE CODE.
Not freeze it. Delete it.
The USDT contract has a function called destroyBlackFunds. It has been there since the 2017 Ethereum deployment.
Here is what it does, in order. It checks that your address is already blacklisted. It reads your balance into a variable the developers named "dirtyFunds". It sets your balance to zero. It subtracts that amount from total supply. Then it logs the event.
No function can reverse it. Once it runs, that balance is gone forever.
The blacklist function names the address it targets "_evilUser". That is how the code sees you before anyone has proven anything.
Only Tether's owner multisig can call it, on Ethereum and on Tron. A court can't. A regulator can't. When a government wants your money, Tether is the one that executes.
Then comes step two. Tether mints the same amount fresh to whoever it chooses: a victim, a court address, a government address. Net supply change is zero. Your money just changed owners.
The DOJ described this exact process in a forfeiture case filed in Massachusetts in March 2025, over roughly $9,016,612 in USDT. Burn, then reissue.
USDC can block a wallet but can't burn the balance. Tether built the eraser in from the start.
They keep promising you there will be no CBDC.
It already exists. It runs on Tron and Ethereum, and it has an owner.
Bitcoin doesn't. Exit with Bitcoin.
Not freeze it. Delete it.
The USDT contract has a function called destroyBlackFunds. It has been there since the 2017 Ethereum deployment.
Here is what it does, in order. It checks that your address is already blacklisted. It reads your balance into a variable the developers named "dirtyFunds". It sets your balance to zero. It subtracts that amount from total supply. Then it logs the event.
No function can reverse it. Once it runs, that balance is gone forever.
The blacklist function names the address it targets "_evilUser". That is how the code sees you before anyone has proven anything.
Only Tether's owner multisig can call it, on Ethereum and on Tron. A court can't. A regulator can't. When a government wants your money, Tether is the one that executes.
Then comes step two. Tether mints the same amount fresh to whoever it chooses: a victim, a court address, a government address. Net supply change is zero. Your money just changed owners.
The DOJ described this exact process in a forfeiture case filed in Massachusetts in March 2025, over roughly $9,016,612 in USDT. Burn, then reissue.
USDC can block a wallet but can't burn the balance. Tether built the eraser in from the start.
They keep promising you there will be no CBDC.
It already exists. It runs on Tron and Ethereum, and it has an owner.
Bitcoin doesn't. Exit with Bitcoin.