Check a USDC address before you send
USDC is issued by Circle, and Circle can blacklist an address. A blacklisted address keeps its balance on-chain and can never move it again. That is why screening the counterparty before you send matters more with USDC than with a token nobody can freeze: the risk is not only that you send to a thief, but that what you receive from one stops being spendable.
Free · No account required · USD Coin (USDC)
Can USDC be frozen?
Yes — Circle can act.
Circle can blacklist an address, which freezes its USDC permanently until Circle lifts it.
Confirm the USDC contract
A wallet shows whatever name a contract claims, so a matching symbol proves nothing. Check the contract address instead.
- Ethereum0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48
What the check looks for around USDC
Every result includes a risk score, entity attribution, a source-of-funds breakdown and counterparties. These are the patterns that matter most here.
Blacklisted counterparties
Circle publishes blacklisting through the contract itself. Receiving from an address that is later blacklisted does not freeze you, but it does put tainted funds in your history — and the exchange you deposit to will see it.
Phishing approvals
Most USDC losses are not stolen keys. The holder signs an approve or permit on a spoofed site and the drainer moves the balance later, sometimes months later. The check shows whether the address you are dealing with is a known drainer endpoint.
Exchange deposit addresses
A deposit address at an exchange is issued to one account. When stolen USDC lands on one, that address identifies where the thief banks, which is what a freeze request has to name — and why our results separate a deposit address from the exchange itself.
USDC address checks — common questions
Can Circle freeze my USDC?
Circle can add an address to the USDC blacklist, after which that address cannot send or receive USDC. It is used in response to law enforcement requests and confirmed thefts. The balance stays visible on-chain but is permanently immobilised unless Circle reverses it.
Does receiving USDC from a flagged address freeze me?
Not automatically. Blacklisting targets a named address. The practical risk is different: the funds carry a history, and the exchange or issuer you next interact with can act on that history — most commonly by holding a deposit for review.
Is checking a USDC address free?
Yes. There is no account, no API key and no payment. Paste the address and you get a risk score, entity attribution, source of funds and counterparties.
What if I already sent USDC to a scammer?
Report it to Circle and to the exchange the funds moved to, with the transaction hash and the receiving address. Speed matters more than anything else: a freeze is only possible while the funds are still identifiable.