Recently, I’ve seen many people in the community asking whether USDT will be flagged as black USDT, and if receiving black USDT will result in account freezing. I happen to have a friend who recently experienced this, and I want to share the real situation with everyone.

First, the conclusion is that there is actually no such thing as black USDT. USDT itself has no color; the problem lies with the address. When funds involved in scams or criminal cases are transferred via USDT, law enforcement agencies and exchanges will track the flow of this money. Once they discover an address involved in the case, the exchange will mark it as a suspect address and blacklist it. From then on, any USDT transferred from this blacklisted address, regardless of the recipient account, will be identified and frozen by the exchange.

A friend of mine had his account frozen by Binance because he received problematic funds. He said he received 2,500 USDT, and when his account was frozen, customer service told him that 939 USDT came from a suspect address, and only 1,561 USDT was clean. What does this mean? It shows that the truth about black USDT is like this: once an address is flagged, USDT transferred out from there to an exchange will be frozen. His account is now only able to receive funds but cannot withdraw, and he has to undergo review by relevant authorities, which takes about 14 working days.

Now that we understand the principle, how can we avoid falling into traps? I’ve thought about it, and there are mainly a few approaches.

First, every blockchain actually has blacklists that can be checked. When there’s no issue, you can look up these flagged addresses yourself. Second, never touch USDT transferred from addresses that belong to project teams that have run away; some of these may not be flagged yet, but they are definitely not clean.

Third, and very important, don’t be greedy. There’s a thing in the market called “float-out USDT,” which is USDT obtained through black or gray market activities or scams, sold at a low price. For example, the current market price of USDT is around $7. Normally, if you urgently want to cash out, you might sell at $6.8 or $6.9, but if it’s suspiciously cheap, like around $5, then don’t touch it.

When doing OTC trades, it’s best to find established traders who have been verified for over two years—they are safer. New traders carry much higher risks. When buying USDT, use exchanges if possible, because large exchanges have dedicated risk control departments. Transferring directly from wallets is much riskier.

If transferring between wallets, also consider the age of the wallets. You can tell if a wallet is new or old by checking the address; prefer older wallets, because many criminals like to use new wallets. Lastly, avoid dealing with small exchanges’ tokens and don’t trade on small exchanges. Some people exploit the risk control loopholes of small exchanges to launder funds. Big exchanges regulate strictly, while small ones often don’t, which makes the risk much higher.

In summary, the core issue of black USDT is understanding how to identify risky addresses and choosing safe trading partners and methods. Doing these well can basically help you avoid the trouble of account freezing.