A few days ago in the early morning, a friend who has been following me for more than half a year suddenly sent a barrage of voice messages.
His tone was full of panic: "Bro, I just converted 800,000 USDT from the exchange to cash and transferred it to my bank card, and within a couple of hours, I received a text from the bank.
'Non-counter transactions have been suspended,' and the money is frozen in the card, making it hard to even check the balance!"
He said he had been staring at the mobile banking app for half an hour, the numbers were still there, but his heart had sunk.
After all, this money was earned over countless nights of watching the market, not lost in the market fluctuations, but stuck at the 'final step of withdrawal'; this disparity is even more painful than losing money.
In fact, many people enter the crypto world only focusing on the rise and fall of the K-line, thinking that as long as they can withstand the volatility, everything is fine, but they forget that what’s even more troublesome than market conditions is 'the money has arrived but cannot be withdrawn.'
The problem often lies in 'funding pollution': for example, if someone uses money obtained from scams or money laundering to buy USDT, this money may go through several rounds of transactions to reach you, appearing normal, but once there’s an issue upstream, all accounts on the entire funding chain will be frozen.
However, everyone, don’t panic; freezing does not mean illegal.
As long as you can provide screenshots of OTC transactions, chat records with the counterparty, and transfer vouchers, 90% of the accounts can be unfrozen.
But this process requires you to run to the bank and interface with the police, taking at least a few weeks to several months, consuming energy and causing distress, which is far less effective than preventing it in advance.
Here are three practical suggestions:
Get a 'dedicated card': specifically for OTC transactions, do not mix it with your salary card or daily spending card to avoid affecting your living expenses during a freeze;
Choose the right trading counterpart: prioritize merchants with high credibility scores and trading records of over 1 year; do not be tempted by a few cents difference and seek new accounts, as the risk is simply not worth it;
Do not be careless with details: transfer large amounts in batches, try to operate during the day (bank risk control is clearer during the day), after the transfer arrives, observe for 3 days first, and write reasonable purposes like 'goods payment' or 'technical consulting fee' in the transfer remarks.
Making money in the crypto world is a skill, but the real skill is being able to safely put the money in your pocket. Don’t wait until funds are frozen to think of remedies; it’s better to take care of these details in advance than anything else.
Some people ask me if I am willing to mentor newcomers, and I always say: My light is always on, and those who are willing to walk towards the light will naturally see it.
