Tether Freezes $72M After ZachXBT Links Wallet to Monero Price Spike

On June 11, the address TA6YHqB2xh5HhfmC7WoLQaWmqq7Vv4zCoQ received 120.2 million USDT on the Tron blockchain. According to ZachXBT, the funds were rapidly dispersed, with $12 million flowing into KuCoin deposit addresses and $8 million routed through instant exchanges. Another $8 million was bridged to Bitcoin and Ethereum via Near Intents. This liquidity movement preceded a sharp surge in the price of Monero, which climbed from $330 to $420 as the entity executed large orders.

By Friday morning, Tether intervened by blacklisting a related address, TBzrPEsStbZAUx2SBhD4oHz8UW3FX9Ak9W, effectively freezing 72.03 million USDT. This action highlights the contrast between centralized stablecoins and privacy-focused assets like Monero, where issuers lack the ability to halt transactions. While XMR has since cooled to trade near $357, the incident underscores the vulnerability of the privacy coin to large-scale order flow, given its shallower liquidity compared to major market tokens.