Warning using stablecoins is dangerous. The CENTRE Consortium blacklisted a USDC address in response to a law enforcement request, freezing $100,000 worth of the stablecoin.
What happens when an address is frozen/blacklisted: it cannot receive USDC anymore and all USDC controlled by that address is blocked and cannot be transferred on-chain.
CENTRE, which issues the dollar-pegged USDC on top of the Ethereum blockchain, confirmed the move, though Circle spokesperson Josh Hawkins, speaking on behalf of the joint Circle-Coinbase operation, said he could not provide any specifics about the blacklisting, which appears to have occurred in mid-June.
“Centre can confirm it blacklisted an address in response to a request from law enforcement. While we cannot comment on the specifics of law enforcement requests, Centre complies with binding court orders that have appropriate jurisdiction over the organization,” the company’s statement said in its entirety.
This incident confirms the limits of decentralization when it is sent or received by stablecoins especially USDC. where normally funds are under user control, in order to remain compliant CENTRE wields the power to sanction certain accounts.
According to the document, CENTRE will also consider a blacklist “to comply with a law, regulation or legal order from a duly recognized U.S. authorized authority, U.S. court of competent jurisdiction or other governmental authority with jurisdiction over CENTRE.”
Source
https://www.coindesk.com/circle-confirms-freezing-100k-in-usdc-at-law-enforcements-request
The above incident confirms USDC blacklisted address, but he is not the only one:
Tether (USDT) and USD COIN, TRUE USD, AND BUSD (Binance usd) can be frozen/reclaim and they can prevent me from sending and ask for my files they will be of no value.
All of these stablecoins can be blocked at addresses or prevented from sending and receiving money on them.