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Question Confiscating USDT vs ETH vs Bitcoin ?

bountymounty

bountymounty

Mentor Group Gold Premium
Feb 12, 2017
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#1
I’ve read in many places on the forum that USDT can be frozen by authorities. Is it the same for Ethereum?

What other crypto coin, apart from Bitcoin, can one choose that cannot be frozen by anyone?

The price of BTC is extremely high, so I’m a bit afraid to invest in it right now."

Let me know if you'd like further adjustments!

As I read, as long as I have the ETH on my ledger or Trezor I'm fine no one can touch the ETH:
As for Ethereum (ETH), it’s somewhat different. Ethereum itself, being decentralized, cannot be "frozen" by authorities in the same way as USDT. However, if you store ETH on a centralized exchange or custodial wallet, those platforms could freeze your assets if they receive legal orders, much like how a bank would freeze traditional financial accounts. On-chain ETH, however, cannot be frozen unless certain regulations force validators to censor transactions, which is a complex and contentious issue in the crypto space.
 
#2
The ETH coins on your ledger or trezor should be safe as I have researched. Lt's see if any of the experts can say something.
 
#3
bountymounty said:
I’ve read in many places on the forum that USDT can be frozen by authorities. Is it the same for Ethereum?
Click to expand...
No
bountymounty said:
What other crypto coin, apart from Bitcoin, can one choose that cannot be frozen by anyone?
Click to expand...
All those that are decentralized
bountymounty said:
The price of BTC is extremely high
Click to expand...
In relation to what?
Are you implying that the usd will increase value against btc? If so, go short btc and make a ton of money.
bountymounty said:
, so I’m a bit afraid to invest in it right now."
Click to expand...
No worries, after FUD always comes FOMO.
bountymounty said:
As I read, as long as I have the ETH on my ledger or Trezor I'm fine no one can touch the ETH:
Click to expand...
Correct. The specific tokens could be “flagged”, but that’s not something you should be too worried about.
bountymounty said:
if you store ETH on a centralized exchange or custodial wallet, those platforms could freeze your assets if they receive legal orders, much like how a bank would freeze traditional financial accounts.
Click to expand...
Correct. Not your keys, not your coins.
 
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#4
1. Stablecoins (USDT/USDC etc.) and tokens can be frozen by issuers, thousands of Tether addresses are already blacklisted for example. There is DAI, which is decentralized stablecoin, but risk of DAI losing it's peg is probably higher than your wallet getting blacklisted.

2. On-chain native coins (BTC, ETH, LTC etc.) cannot be blacklisted. Only possibility is that your wallet gets flagged by Chainalysis or something, in such case you cannot deposit funds to a centralized exchange. Still possible to cashout though (Tornado Cash, no KYC exchangers etc).
 
Last edited:
#5
Check the token contract for each token as each smart contract can be different , before you start blindly using it .
As you can see in the contract that USDT on the trc20 chain implements a blacklisting mechanism :
Code: 
contract BlackList is Ownable {

    /////// Getter to allow the same blacklist to be used also by other contracts (including upgraded Tether) ///////
    function getBlackListStatus(address _maker) external constant returns (bool) {
        return isBlackListed[_maker];
    }

    mapping (address => bool) public isBlackListed;

    function addBlackList (address _evilUser) public onlyOwner {
        isBlackListed[_evilUser] = true;
        AddedBlackList(_evilUser);
    }

    function removeBlackList (address _clearedUser) public onlyOwner {
        isBlackListed[_clearedUser] = false;
        RemovedBlackList(_clearedUser);
    }

    event AddedBlackList(address indexed _user);

    event RemovedBlackList(address indexed _user);

}
As you can see the addBlackList and removeBlackList can only be called by the contract owner (tether) .
If these functions are called events are emitted (AddedBlacklist and RemovedBlacklist)
You can track these events here :
AddedBlacklist: https://bloxy.info/txs/calls_sc/0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7?signature_id=37762 (1842 calls until today)
RemovedBlacklist: https://bloxy.info/address/0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7 (67 until today)

And there is also destroyBlackFunds function in the code :
Code: 
    function destroyBlackFunds (address _blackListedUser) public onlyOwner {
        require(isBlackListed[_blackListedUser]);
        uint dirtyFunds = balanceOf(_blackListedUser);
        balances[_blackListedUser] = 0;
        _totalSupply = _totalSupply.sub(dirtyFunds);
        DestroyedBlackFunds(_blackListedUser, dirtyFunds);
    }

    event DestroyedBlackFunds(address indexed _blackListedUser, uint _balance);
}

This function destroys/clears your funds (sets it to zero and substracts it from the total supply )
You can track the DestroyedBlackFunds events with this link:
https://bloxy.info/txs/calls_sc/0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7?signature_id=37762 (until today it got called 854 times)
 
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#8
XMR is the only one that can’t be blacklisted as it’s anonymous, they would have to blacklist the whole cryptocurrency.

BTC and most of other coins can be blacklisted by exchanges and in the future when companies like Chainanalysis are more widespread by individual buyers / sellers and businesses
 
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#10
bountymounty said:
can you explain how to do that in a small tutor? :oops:
Click to expand...
The most straightforward way is to sell futures, either on a crypto exchange or on the CME (35% margin) or the CBOE (40% margin). You can access the instruments through any broker, including IBKR, and banks.
If you know what you are doing, buy puts, or sell calls, or setup the options strategy you like most.
 
#11
bountymounty said:
I’ve read in many places on the forum that USDT can be frozen by authorities. Is it the same for Ethereum?

What other crypto coin, apart from Bitcoin, can one choose that cannot be frozen by anyone?

The price of BTC is extremely high, so I’m a bit afraid to invest in it right now."

Let me know if you'd like further adjustments!

As I read, as long as I have the ETH on my ledger or Trezor I'm fine no one can touch the ETH:
As for Ethereum (ETH), it’s somewhat different. Ethereum itself, being decentralized, cannot be "frozen" by authorities in the same way as USDT. However, if you store ETH on a centralized exchange or custodial wallet, those platforms could freeze your assets if they receive legal orders, much like how a bank would freeze traditional financial accounts. On-chain ETH, however, cannot be frozen unless certain regulations force validators to censor transactions, which is a complex and contentious issue in the crypto space.
Click to expand...
USDT very simple due to the collar they have around them - so usually without due process or court irdrr

USDC however goes through due process and court orders

Other stable coins that are not $ are based on domestic court orders which will have to have a burden of proof I.e CHF or SGD ones

Can’t comment on others

Reference protocols

BTC/ETH no not a chance that it can be frozen unless it affects the entire network - however you will see periods where certain countries won’t process via mining/validating transactions
 
#13
manukahoney said:
Just 2 cents - yes, they can not freeze BTC or ETH, however the public keys can be marked and traced and no major exchange or any respected OTC will touch them.
Click to expand...
public keys cannot, unless you share your XPUB voluntarily (which is a bad idea)

what can be marked are addresses hence an appropriate protocol of working with them is highly advised
 
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#14
bountymounty said:
I’ve read in many places on the forum that USDT can be frozen by authorities. Is it the same for Ethereum?

What other crypto coin, apart from Bitcoin, can one choose that cannot be frozen by anyone?

The price of BTC is extremely high, so I’m a bit afraid to invest in it right now."

Let me know if you'd like further adjustments!

As I read, as long as I have the ETH on my ledger or Trezor I'm fine no one can touch the ETH:
As for Ethereum (ETH), it’s somewhat different. Ethereum itself, being decentralized, cannot be "frozen" by authorities in the same way as USDT. However, if you store ETH on a centralized exchange or custodial wallet, those platforms could freeze your assets if they receive legal orders, much like how a bank would freeze traditional financial accounts. On-chain ETH, however, cannot be frozen unless certain regulations force validators to censor transactions, which is a complex and contentious issue in the crypto space.
Click to expand...
If you're looking to have stablecoins which cannot be frozen.

Use $DAI (it's backup half by USDC) but it cannot be freezen.
 
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