Which blockchains can currently freeze user funds?
Sixteen chains possess active freezing capabilities through three distinct methods.
What do freezing capabilities mean for crypto traders?
Fund freezing capabilities fundamentally challenge crypto’s promise of censorship resistance by granting foundations bank-like override powers.
Sixteen major blockchains possess built-in capabilities to freeze user funds without consent, according to research released by Bybit’s Lazarus Security Lab on 12 November.
The investigation analyzed 166 blockchain networks and discovered that an additional 19 chains could activate similar powers with minor code modifications.
The findings force uncomfortable questions about whether “decentralized” networks remain so in practice, as foundations and validators wield emergency controls that mirror traditional banking systems.
Traders who believed their crypto assets existed beyond institutional reach now face a different reality.
Three freezing methods detected
Bybit’s researchers identified three distinct mechanisms blockchain foundations use to lock user assets.
Hardcoded freezing embeds blacklisting are directly integrated into the blockchain code, creating public blocklists visible on GitHub. BNB Chain, VeChain, Chiliz, Viction, and XDC Network employ this method.
Configuration-based freezing operates through private validator settings, allowing foundations to add addresses to local blacklist files invisible to the public. Sui, Aptos, Harmony, Supra, EOS, Oasis, Wax, and Waves use this approach.
The Huobi ECO Chain stands alone in managing blacklists through on-chain smart contracts.
Each method blocks targeted addresses from signing transactions, effectively locking funds until foundations remove the restriction.
No private key or wallet security can override these protocol-level controls.
Real-world interventions
The research documented five major incidents where blockchains exercised freezing powers.
Sui froze $162 million after the Cetus DEX hack in May 2025, then used governance votes with 90.9 percent approval to transfer recovered funds back to victims.
BNB Chain deployed a hardcoded blacklisting feature after the October 2022 $570 million bridge exploit, limiting attacker movement to approximately $100-110 million.
VeChain set the precedent in December 2019 by blacklisting 469 addresses following a $6.6 million hack of its buyback wallet.
Notably, Aptos added freezing functionality just one month after Sui used it against the Cetus hacker.
It was a reactive move that demonstrates how quickly chains adopt centralized controls when peer networks face crises.
Implications for traders and the crypto space
The report creates immediate trust concerns for traders holding assets on affected chains.
While freezing prevented hundreds of millions in theft, it proves foundations maintain override switches that contradict crypto’s core value proposition of censorship resistance.
Bybit’s findings reveal that 19 Cosmos ecosystem chains — including Arbitrum, Celestia, dYdX, Sei, and Kava — could implement freezing with relatively minor protocol modifications.
This represents potential centralization risk across a significant portion of the blockchain landscape.
“Blockchain was built on the principle of decentralization — yet our research shows that many networks are developing pragmatic safety mechanisms to respond quickly to threats,” said David Zong, Bybit’s Head of Group Risk Control and Security.
The security-decentralization tradeoff
The research exposes blockchain’s fundamental tension between security and ideology.
Freezing capabilities serve as emergency tools against exploits but grant foundations bank-like powers over user assets.
The report concludes that crypto must balance legitimate security needs against decentralization principles.
As institutional adoption grows and regulatory pressure intensifies, more chains will likely implement or activate freezing mechanisms.
