Top Reasons Crypto Exchange Accounts Are Frozen in 2026
Top reasons a crypto exchange may freeze an account: AML, KYC, SoF, P2P, and sanctions screening, plus what to collect first.
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DefCrypt Blog
Practical analysis of exchange restrictions, AML, theft, and access recovery — without noise or blanket guarantees.
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Wallet Empty After Seed Phrase Recovery: What to Check
Check the network, account, seed format, passphrase and address history after restoring an empty wallet. Distinguish a display problem, different keys and outgoing transfers.
Bitcoin Core wallet.dat Recovery: Backups and Forgotten Passwords
How to assess a Bitcoin Core wallet.dat backup, distinguish corruption, encryption and watch-only data, preserve the original and evaluate a forgotten password.
NDA in a Crypto Investigation: Why Sign Before Details
Why use an NDA before sharing crypto-case details: what a non-disclosure agreement does and does not do—and why it never replaces the rule against sending a seed phrase. Not a downloadable legal template.
How to Choose a Crypto Recovery Company
How to choose a firm for exchange unfreezing or post-theft support and avoid a second scam: up-front miracles, seed-phrase requests, and promised success rates—without attacking named competitors.
How to Protect a Crypto Wallet: Seed, Hardware, Phishing
How to protect a crypto wallet: seed storage, hardware versus a hot wallet, phishing, token approvals, and extensions—prevention, not a post-hack recovery guide.
How to Check a Crypto Exchange Before Signing Up
A pre-deposit checklist for a crypto exchange: domain, licence claims, a withdrawal test, support, and “too good” yield—and how a real AML pause differs from a fake platform.
Recovering Crypto in Belarus: Where to Report It
How to recover crypto in Belarus: where to file a report after theft or fraud, how an exchange hold differs from theft, and the limits of local police and courts—without a legal opinion or outcome guarantees.
Bybit access for users tied to Russia: geo and KYC, not an AML withdrawal hold
Bybit access restrictions for users tied to Russia: how geo and KYC differ from an AML withdrawal hold, what to check in the help center, and what not to do.
A wave of freezes for users from Russia and the CIS: not one cause
Crypto account freezes affecting users from Russia and the CIS in 2026: a mix of AML, SoF, geo, and P2P — how to classify the hold and what to do in the first 48 hours.
EU sanctions and AML wallet relabeling: why an old transfer looks risky
EU sanctions and crypto: how new packages can raise risk on certain services, and why AML vendors may relabel historical hops after the fact.
Enhanced due diligence on a crypto exchange: not KYC and not SoF
Enhanced due diligence on a crypto exchange: how EDD differs from KYC and Source of Funds, when it typically starts, and what to expect without treating a chat list as official policy.
Chainalysis flagged a wallet: what to do next
An exchange cited Chainalysis or KYT: why you cannot delete a flag on-chain, what a Source of Funds and hop map can show, and what an appeal cannot do.
How Crypto Mixers Work—and Why They Are Still Traced
How crypto mixers and tumblers work: why AML systems flag those hops, why tracing is often still possible, and why depositing mixed funds to an exchange is a freeze risk. Not a how-to-mix guide.
Crypto Stuck on a Bridge: Pending, Failed, and Waiting for Liquidity
Funds stuck on a blockchain bridge: how to tell pending from failed and from a liquidity wait, what to check in two explorers, and where DIY analysis ends.
How Exchange and Protocol Hacks Are Investigated
How investigators cluster addresses and follow cross-chain hops after an exchange or protocol hack—educational limits, no tool marketing, and no freeze promises.
Crypto Seizure and Arrest in Russia: Three Different Mechanisms
Crypto seizure and arrest in Russia: how a criminal freeze of property differs from an exchange AML pause and an issuer blacklist—orientation, not legal advice.
Who to Contact After Crypto Theft: Police, Lawyer, or Forensics
Who to contact after crypto theft: what police, a lawyer, and blockchain analytics can and cannot do. Protect remaining assets first—not a dogma to file immediately.
Help Someone After Crypto Theft: First Steps for a Relative
A relative lost crypto to theft or a scam: what to say, what not to do together, how to avoid a second scam, and when to involve a specialist—without taking their seed phrase.
Crypto Inheritance After Death: First Steps Without a Seed Phrase
Crypto inheritance after the owner's death: a will does not open the wallet, when recovery is realistic, and why a seed phrase must not be sent to "inheritance services."
Fake Crypto Job Scam: First Steps After a Deposit
Fake crypto job scam: a remote "role" with a training wallet, deposits, and unpaid tasks—stop sending, what to preserve, and where not to pay an up-front recovery fee.
Deepfake and AI Crypto Scams: First Steps After a Transfer
Deepfake and AI crypto scams: how to recognize a familiar voice or video pushing a transfer, what evidence to keep, and why you should not "verify" on the same channel.
Crypto Stolen Through a Browser Extension: First-Hour Steps
Crypto stolen through a browser extension: how address swapping and injected scripts differ from seed phishing, and what to do in the first hour without using the same profile.
Airdrop and Quest Scams: Malicious Approval After a Lure
A fake airdrop or quest asks you to connect a wallet: how a malicious approval empties the balance, and what to do in the first hour after you sign.
A Crypto Bot Froze the Account: First Steps Without Extra Payments
A crypto bot froze withdrawals: how to tell a scam bot from a real OTC bot and from an exchange hold, and why extra unlock payments are not support.
Forgot a Crypto Memo or Destination Tag: Where the Funds Sit
A transfer sent without a MEMO or destination tag on XRP, XLM, TON, and similar deposits: why funds often sit on an exchange omnibus address, and how to file a ticket with the TxID.
Exchanger Hold for a High-Risk Transaction: What It Means
A fiat/crypto exchanger such as Onix paused a transfer as high risk: how that differs from CEX AML, and first steps that do not invent the venue's policy.
Company Lost Crypto: What Businesses Should Do
A company lost crypto: how a treasury incident differs from private theft, the first 24 hours, communications, and freeze requests.
How to Recover a Bitcoin Wallet: Seed Phrase, wallet.dat or Old Device
Choose a Bitcoin wallet recovery route using a seed phrase, wallet.dat, backup or old device. Understand the limits of address-only and watch-only recovery.
When to Involve a Lawyer After Crypto Theft
When to involve a lawyer after crypto theft, at what stage, and what to prepare—without recovery guarantees or neglecting the urgent protection of remaining assets.
Fake Crypto Exchange Will Not Let You Withdraw: Fees and Extra Payments
A fake crypto exchange will not let you withdraw: how fee, tax, and withdrawal-deposit traps work, and how they differ from an AML hold at a real exchange.
Recovering Cryptocurrency Through Court
Recovering cryptocurrency through court: when a civil claim or criminal process may help, and when the absence of a defendant, trace, or jurisdiction makes it unrealistic, with no guaranteed legal outcome.
How to Recover Crypto Wallet Access After Losing Your Phone
How to recover crypto wallet access after losing a phone: the role of a seed phrase, first steps, exchange 2FA, and why recovery bots are dangerous.
Lost access to MetaMask: what to do
What to do after losing access to MetaMask: distinguish a software issue from actual loss, understand passwords and seed phrases, and avoid fake recovery sites.
How to Read a Blockchain Explorer
How to read a blockchain explorer in practice: find a transfer by TxID and understand Status, From, To, and token transfers in Etherscan, Tronscan, and BscScan.
Pig Butchering: A Long Con, Not a One-Off Scam
Pig-butchering crypto scams are long-term confidence schemes. Learn how the trap works, how to leave it, and what evidence to preserve after making transfers.
What Is a TXID? How to Find and Check a Transaction Hash
What is a TxID or transaction hash, how it differs from an address, where to find it in an exchange or wallet, and why you should preserve it for support.
How to trace a scammer's crypto wallet
How to trace a scammer's wallet yourself: follow a TxID through a blockchain explorer to a possible exchange deposit, and know where manual analysis ends without any promise of recovery.
The Support Ticket Says “Dangerous Transaction”: What Does It Mean?
What a Dangerous transaction label means in an exchange ticket, how an incoming deposit may be flagged, and how to respond to support calmly.
Documents for a Crypto Exchange AML Check
Documents for a crypto exchange AML check: what a requested package should contain, what to attach to the case, and which files hinder the review.
Freezing Stolen Crypto on an Exchange: Requests and Evidence
How to request that an exchange freeze stolen crypto, what evidence to attach, and what to expect—without guarantees about the outcome or response time.
Filing a Police Report for Crypto Theft
What evidence to attach to a police report for crypto theft, why the registration receipt matters, and why filing does not guarantee an investigation or recovery.
Ledger Recovery: Lost Device, Forgotten PIN or Missing Recovery Phrase
What to check after losing a Ledger device, PIN or recovery phrase. Recovery scenarios, separate passphrases, existing backups and missing balances.
Forgot Your Crypto Wallet Password? When Recovery May Be Possible
What to do if you forgot a crypto wallet password, how a password differs from a seed phrase, when recovery may still be possible, and why password-cracking services can be a trap.
What Is "Dirty" Crypto, and Why Is It Not a Verdict?
Dirty crypto explained: risky sources in an asset's history, such as mixers, scams, or sanctions, why a KYT flag is not a verdict, and what to check before an exchange deposit.
USDT Frozen by the Issuer: How This Differs from an Exchange AML Review
USDT frozen by the issuer: a Tether or Circle token-contract blacklist versus an exchange AML hold, how to check an address, and what no one can promise.
Stolen USDT: What to Do in the First 24 Hours
What to do if USDT is stolen: identify the TRC-20 or ERC-20 network, preserve the TxIDs, move remaining assets, and request a freeze at the destination exchange without assuming recovery is guaranteed.
P2P account freeze: fiat disputes and evidence
What to do when a P2P fiat dispute or chargeback leads to an account freeze: collect order, bank, and chat evidence and respond through the official appeal process.
Crypto Scam: Where to Report It and What Not to Do
What to do after a crypto scam: stop further payments, preserve evidence, avoid up-front payments to recovery services, and set realistic expectations.
How to trace a USDT transaction on TRC-20
How to trace USDT on TRC-20 in Tronscan, from the TxID to an address that may be an exchange deposit, without promising recovery.
Crypto Exchange Scam: A Fake Platform After the Transfer
A crypto exchange scam may use a fake platform introduced in a chat. Learn how to distinguish it from a real exchange and what to do after a transfer without paying a “withdrawal fee” or relying on promises of recovery.
Crypto Exchange Verification Failed: What to Fix in KYC
What to do when crypto exchange verification fails: common KYC rejections involving documents, lighting, framing, and mismatched data, and what to fix before contacting support.
Crypto Wallet Hacked: Where to Start
What to do after a crypto wallet compromise: distinguish a leaked seed phrase, phishing, or malware from a malicious approval and take the right first steps.
How to Check Crypto for AML Risk
How to check crypto for AML risk before a deposit: screen an address and TxID, understand the risk of so-called dirty assets, and isolate risky incoming funds before sending them to an exchange.
Crypto Stolen From a Wallet: A Calm Response Plan
What to do after cryptocurrency is stolen from a wallet: preserve TxIDs and addresses, move the remaining assets, prepare an exchange report, and avoid recovery scams.
Crypto Account Frozen: A 48-Hour Checklist
What to do when a crypto account is frozen: a checklist for the first 48 hours, one coherent response to an AML request, and why duplicate tickets can be counterproductive.
How to check a crypto wallet for AML risk
How to check a wallet for AML risk before an exchange deposit: interpret a risk score, distinguish direct from indirect exposure, and save a dated PDF report.
Unauthorized Crypto Withdrawal from a Wallet: The First Hours
What to do in the first hours after an unauthorized crypto wallet withdrawal: preserve TxIDs, move the remainder to a clean address, and stop funding the compromised wallet.
Bybit Withdrawal Under Review: What to Check and Send to Support
Distinguish a Bybit security lock from a withdrawal review or account review. First checks, document preparation and a sample support request.
Source of Funds: What Exchanges Actually Ask For
What exchanges ask for in a Source of Funds review, how SoF differs from Source of Wealth, which evidence may be accepted, and where origin-of-funds submissions fail.
Malicious Token Approval: The First 60 Minutes After Funds Move
A drainer using token approval: how to distinguish malicious approval from seed-phrase theft, revoke permissions, protect remaining assets, and preserve evidence.
Partial seed phrase: when recovery is realistic
When recovery from a partial seed phrase is realistic, which BIP39 details improve feasibility, and why you should never submit a complete seed phrase through a form.
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