The button exists, it's written into the USDT contract, and only Tether can press it. As a rule, the request comes from law enforcement, not the victim. Freezing stops the money, but it doesn't send it back on its own. And everything depends on the funds still being there.
A manifesto against the industry, a leak that held the world's attention, and, in every video, a QR code to buy the coin named after the manifesto. The order of events — all of it public — is what reveals the pattern: the token came before the cause.
Cronos, the chain maintained by Crypto.com, halted for nine hours and restored the state prior to the Tectonic attack. $68.7 million came back. The roughly $6 million already bridged to Ethereum did not.
BCB Resolution No. 584 bars newly deposited funds from leaving for a foreign entity or self-custody wallet within 24 hours. Releasing early is discretionary — and requires a reasoned, documented decision. Effective January 1, 2027.
The hardware wallet maker has confirmed the exposure of names, phone numbers and home addresses belonging to 13,689 customers, Brazilians among them. The official guidance talks about phishing. The data that leaked is useful for something else — and Brazil ranks among the four countries with the most physical attacks on crypto holders since 2023.
The coverage read Chainalysis's report as escalation. The data says otherwise — and the finding that deserved the headline is a different one: illicit flow doesn't spread out, it piles up in five addresses.
Those who move illicit money in crypto tend to confuse pseudonymity with invisibility. They are not the same thing, and the difference surfaces at precisely the moment they need to turn it into spendable money.
The scam doesn't convince the victim all at once. It walks them through six stages, each designed to make the next one seem reasonable. Understanding the funnel is what makes it possible to interrupt before the last stage.