Seizure
A seizure goes beyond a freeze: the value is taken away from the holder, for example on an authority's order, or under the issuer's terms. Tether's terms say it may seize and deliver a user's property to government or law enforcement authorities. In USDT's Ethereum contract, destroyBlackFunds sets a blacklisted address's balance to zero and lowers total supply. The GENIUS Act's 'lawful order' can require an issuer to seize, freeze, burn or prevent transfers of its payment stablecoins.
What the sources say
| Source | Quote | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Tether terms: seize and deliver | "Tether may, at its sole and absolute discretion, seize and deliver your property to any applicable Government, law enforcement, or other authorities where circumstances warrant or in accordance with Laws." | tether.to |
| TetherToken source: destroyBlackFunds | "function destroyBlackFunds (address _blackListedUser) public onlyOwner { require(isBlackListed[_blackListedUser]); uint dirtyFunds = balanceOf(_blackListedUser); balances[_blackListedUser] = 0; _totalSupply -= dirtyFunds; DestroyedBlackFunds(_blackListedUser, dirtyFunds); }" | Etherscan |
| GENIUS Act, sec. 2(16): lawful order | "requires a person to seize, freeze, burn, or prevent the transfer of payment stablecoins issued by the person" | govinfo.gov |
| Circle USDC terms: legal orders | "Circle may also be required to freeze USDC and/or surrender associated USD held in Segregated Accounts in the event it receives a legal order from a valid government authority" | circle.com |
| FATF Glossary: confiscation (permanent deprivation) | "The term confiscation, which includes forfeiture where applicable, means the permanent deprivation of funds or other assets by order of a competent authority or a court." | fatf-gafi.org |
Related terms
See also
- Data: Stablecoin freezes and seizures by issuer
- Explainer: What is a seizure, and how is it different from a freeze?
- Review: revain.org/coins/usdt/
- Review: revain.org/coins/usdc/
- Review: revain.org/coins/usdtb/
Checked against the sources on 2026-11-01.