Which chains enable onchain freezing?

TLDR

A new research report says 16 blockchains have built?in ways to freeze funds; confirmed examples include BNB Chain, VeChain, Chiliz, Viction, XDC, Sui, Aptos, Harmony, EOS, Oasis, WAX, Waves, and Heco Chain. See the summary of findings in a recent report and coverage of the list in a detailed article.

1. Hardcoded freeze: BNB Chain, VeChain, Chiliz, Viction, XDC per a published analysis.
2. Validator config freeze: Sui, Aptos, Harmony, EOS, Oasis, WAX, Waves, Supra per the same coverage.
3. On?chain contract freeze: Heco Chain via a system contract according to the report.

Deep Dive

1. Confirmed Chains

Independent writeups of the Bybit Lazarus Security Lab report agree on a core set of chains with on?chain freezing mechanisms. Hardcoded examples include BNB Chain, VeChain, Chiliz, Viction, and XDC. Validator or foundation configuration based examples include Sui, Aptos, Harmony, EOS, Oasis, WAX, Waves, and Supra. Heco Chain uses a system contract to freeze addresses. These groupings are detailed in a coverage article and reiterated in a complementary summary.

• Hardcoded set and config set are enumerated in a concise explainer.
• The single contract?based case, Heco Chain, is highlighted in the reports.

2. How Freezing Works

The report describes three mechanisms. Hardcoded freezing lives in the client or protocol code and rejects transactions from blacklisted addresses. Configuration based freezing lets validators apply private blacklist files that take effect after node restarts. Contract based freezing is enforced by privileged system contracts. Real incidents include Sui freezing about 162 million dollars after the Cetus exploit in May 2025, BNB Chain limiting attacker movement during its 2022 bridge exploit, and VeChains 2019 blacklist of stolen funds. These examples and mechanism details appear across multiple summaries.

• Mechanism taxonomy and examples are outlined in the overview article.
• Sui, BNB Chain and VeChain incidents are cited in the same coverage and a second writeup.

3. Disputed Coverage

Some outlets expanded the list to include major L1s such as Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Avalanche, Tron, Polkadot, Cardano, Tezos, Near, Algorand, Hedera, Stellar and XRP Ledger. This broader claim is attributed to the same underlying report but may reflect chains that could add freezing via modules or governance changes rather than ones with an active, documented protocol freeze today. See the broader claim in one writeup and a similar summary.

• The tighter list above has clearer mechanism evidence.
• Where sources disagree, verify on the networks own documentation or recent governance posts.

Conclusion

Per recent research, a defined group of networks already enable protocol?level freezing through hardcoded logic, validator configuration or system contracts. These controls can contain exploits, but they trade off decentralization and transparency. If you plan to build or hold on a chain, review whether protocol?level freezes exist and who can trigger them, then weigh security benefits against governance risk.