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, sounding panicked: “Bro, I just converted 800,000 USDT from the exchange to cash and transferred it to my bank card. Just two hours later, I received a text from the bank saying — ‘Off-counter transactions have been suspended,’ and the money is frozen in the card, making it difficult to even check the balance!”

He said he stared at the mobile banking app for half an hour, the numbers were still there, but his heart went cold. After all, this money was made after countless nights of watching the market, it wasn't lost in the market conditions, but instead got stuck at the “final step of withdrawal,” this gap is even more painful than losing money.

In fact, many people enter the cryptocurrency world only focusing on the rise and fall of K-lines, thinking that as long as they can withstand market fluctuations, everything will be fine, forgetting that a more pitiful situation than losing money in the market is — the money has been earned, but can't be taken out. The core issue is “funds contamination”: for example, someone uses dirty money from fraud or money laundering to buy USDT, this money circulates several times before it reaches you, and on the surface, it looks like a normal transaction, but once the upstream issues arise, all accounts on the funding chain will be frozen.

However, don't panic, a freeze does not mean illegal activity. As long as you can provide OTC transaction screenshots, chat records with the counterparty, and transfer vouchers, 90% of accounts can be unfrozen. But this process may require running to the bank and coordinating with the police, taking at least a few weeks to several months, consuming energy and causing anxiety, which is far less effective than preventing issues in advance.

Here are three practical suggestions:

1. Get a separate “cryptocurrency-specific card”: specifically for OTC transactions, don’t mix it with salary cards or daily expense cards to avoid affecting your living expenses when frozen;

2. Choose the right trading partner: prioritize older merchants with high credibility scores and over a year of trading history, don't be tempted by a few cents price difference to look for new accounts, the risk is not worth it;

3. Don’t be careless with details: transfer large amounts in batches, try to operate during the day (bank risk control is clearer during the day), observe for 3 days after the funds arrive, and use reasonable purposes like “goods payment” or “technical consulting fee” in the transfer remarks.

In the cryptocurrency world, being able to make money is a skill, but being able to safely put the money in your pocket is true ability. Don't wait until funds are frozen to think of remedies; it’s much better to prepare these details in advance.