Tether Blacklists Ethereum Address Linked to Multichain Hack

The address, containing more than $715,000 of USDT stablecoins, traces back to hackers who stole $3 million from Multichain users.

AccessTimeIconFeb 11, 2022 at 6:16 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:58 p.m. UTC
  • Stablecoin issuer Tether has frozen an Ethereum address holding over $715,000 worth of USDT, according to data from block explorer site Etherscan.
  • The address traces back to hackers who stole $3 million in cryptocurrency on the cross-chain bridge Multichain nearly a month ago, according to Etherscan's labeling of transactions involving the wallet as well as a CoinDesk analysis.
  • Whoever controls the address will not be able to move funds so long as they are frozen.
  • The hack on Multichain was made possible by a security vulnerability, which the team behind the project warned users about in January.
  • Tether did not immediately respond to a request for comment
  • Three addresses with over $160 million in USDT were frozen in mid-January at the request of law enforcement.
  • Tether, which issues tokens on several blockchains, began blacklisting addresses following a 2017 breach in which the firm said $30 million of USDT was stolen.

UPDATE (Feb. 11, 18:56 UTC): Adds link to first bullet point and attribution to second.


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Helene Braun

Helene is a New York-based news reporter at CoinDesk covering U.S. crypto exchanges and Wall Street. She is a recent graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News and Nasdaq TradeTalks where she talked about the market. She holds BTC and ETH.


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