16 blockchains can freeze your funds! Bybit report

Key Takeaways

Which blockchains can currently freeze user funds?

Sixteen chains are currently sporting some serious freeze-dried powers via three distinct methods. Fun, right?

What do freezing capabilities mean for crypto traders?

Well, it’s basically a party-pooper for crypto’s wild promise of “censorship resistance.” Foundations now have a magic “bank-like” button to control your funds. How very centralized.

In a shocking (or not-so-shocking) twist, it turns out that sixteen of the blockchain world’s “bad boys” have a secret power: the ability to freeze your assets without even sending you a “Sorry for the inconvenience” email. According to Bybit’s Lazarus Security Lab, this unsettling discovery came to light on November 12.

Bybit’s research took a magnifying glass to 166 blockchain networks and found an additional 19 chains just a code tweak away from joining the freezing party.

The big question now is: do these networks really deserve the “decentralized” badge? Or have foundations and validators just slid into the comfy, cushy seat of traditional banking systems?

Traders who thought their crypto was free from the prying hands of institutions might want to rethink their life choices.

Three freezing methods detected

Bybit’s team of digital detectives uncovered three distinct ways blockchain foundations can lock up your assets. And spoiler: no one is handing you a key.

The first method is called hardcoded freezing, and it’s pretty straightforward. Imagine if your funds were placed on a public blacklist that even GitHub couldn’t hide from. BNB Chain, VeChain, Chiliz, Viction, and XDC Network have all given this a shot.

Then there’s configuration-based freezing. Foundations can mess with private validator settings and add addresses to secret blacklists that only the cool kids (aka foundations) get to see. Sui, Aptos, Harmony, Supra, EOS, Oasis, Wax, and Waves are in the club.

And finally, the Huobi ECO Chain stands out with its special little twist, managing blacklists via on-chain smart contracts. Because why not make things even more “fancy”?

In all these cases, the freezing mechanism stops the targeted addresses from signing transactions, which means your funds are locked tighter than a vault until someone in the foundation decides it’s time to set you free. No private key or wallet security can break this ice.

Real-world interventions

The research goes beyond theory and documents five major times when blockchains turned into digital bouncers, freezing funds with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Take Sui, for example. After the Cetus DEX hack in May 2025, they froze a whopping $162 million. But, in a twist that could have been straight out of a bad heist movie, they later used a governance vote (with 90.9% approval, no less) to return the funds. It’s like they called in a digital SWAT team to fix things.

BNB Chain had its own drama in October 2022, after a $570 million bridge exploit. They didn’t freeze everything, though-just enough to make the attacker’s life a bit more… inconvenient, limiting their movement to $100-110 million. Talk about putting a cap on the chaos!

And let’s not forget VeChain, which kicked off the trend back in December 2019, blacklisting 469 addresses after a $6.6 million hack. Because nothing says “we’re taking control” like hitting the blacklist button in front of everyone.

Interestingly, Aptos, in an act of pure coincidence, added freezing capabilities right after Sui pulled the trigger on the Cetus hack. Nothing says “we’re keeping up” like a reactive move, right?

Implications for traders and the crypto space

For traders, this means the warm, fuzzy feeling of decentralized freedom just got a little colder. Freezing could have prevented some pretty big thefts, but it also proves that foundations hold the keys to the kingdom-and they’re not shy about using them.

Bybit’s findings also suggest that 19 chains within the Cosmos ecosystem-yes, including Arbitrum, Celestia, dYdX, Sei, and Kava-could enable freezing with just a few code tweaks. It’s like crypto’s version of “now you see it, now you don’t,” but with your funds.

“Blockchain was built on the idea of decentralization,” said David Zong, Bybit’s Head of Group Risk Control and Security, while probably shaking his head. “But our research shows that many networks are implementing safety mechanisms that are pretty pragmatic when dealing with threats.” Translation: we have to keep things secure, even if it means ditching decentralization for a bit.

The security-decentralization tradeoff

And there you have it-the crux of the issue: security vs. ideology. Freezing capabilities are a good thing when it comes to protecting against hacks, but they also give foundations the kind of power over user assets that makes banks look like amateurs.

In conclusion, crypto has some serious balancing to do-between real security needs and the “don’t tread on me” spirit of decentralization.

With institutional adoption growing and regulators sharpening their pencils, expect more chains to jump on the freezing bandwagon. It’s like a cold winter’s day, but without the nice sweater.

2025-11-12 21:16