Transaction freeze controls let you hold funds in place for compliance review, risk management, or regulatory purposes. You can freeze individual transactions or enable automatic freeze on a wallet so that Ripple Custody (Wallet) freezes all incoming deposits by default.
For the console procedures, see Freeze and unfreeze transactions via the console. For the API procedures, see Freeze and unfreeze transactions via the API.
| Action | Console role | Console procedure | API procedure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freeze deposits by default | Owner, Administrator, Proposer | Enable automatic freeze on a wallet | Update wallet settings |
| Freeze a transaction | Owner, Administrator, Auditor | Freeze an individual transaction | Freeze a transaction |
| Unfreeze a transaction | Owner, Administrator, Auditor | Unfreeze a transaction | Unfreeze a transaction |
| Check frozen funds | All roles | Monitor frozen balances | Check freeze state |
Permissions: In the console, owners, administrators, and auditors can freeze and unfreeze transactions. Owners, administrators, and proposers can turn on freeze by default, which is a wallet setting. See User roles and permissions. Freezing and unfreezing through the API needs an API credential of type TRANSACTIONS. Changing wallet settings through the API needs a WALLETS credential.
When you freeze a transaction, the funds remain in the wallet but move from the available balance to the frozen balance. Users can't spend, transfer, or include frozen funds in outgoing transactions until you unfreeze them.
The wallet's balance view shows:
| Balance type | Description |
|---|---|
| Available balance | Funds available for outgoing transactions |
| Frozen balance | Funds held in a frozen state — visible but not spendable |
| Pending balance | Incoming funds that Ripple Custody (Wallet) hasn't yet released to the available balance or frozen |
Each frozen transaction records why it was frozen, and manual decisions take precedence over automatic ones. See Freeze types and who can change them.
Freeze controls support a range of compliance and risk management scenarios:
- AML/sanctions screening — freeze incoming deposits until your compliance team completes screening checks.
- Suspicious activity investigation — freeze a transaction while you investigate unusual activity on a wallet.
- Regulatory holds — place a hold on funds in response to a regulatory request or legal order.
- Audit trail — Ripple Custody (Wallet) records every freeze and unfreeze action with the user, timestamp, and reason. Use audit logging to export this data for compliance reporting.
For additional governance, set up a transaction approval group so that outgoing transactions require human approval. Freeze controls govern incoming funds; approval groups govern outgoing funds. Together, they provide end-to-end oversight. See Configure approval flows.
- Freeze and unfreeze transactions via the console — Enable automatic freeze, freeze and unfreeze transactions, and monitor frozen balances in the console
- View and track transactions — Find a transaction and open its transaction page
- Receive assets — How deposits appear, including frozen deposits
- Manage wallets — Enable automatic freeze in wallet settings
- Audit logging — Track freeze and unfreeze activity
- Freeze and unfreeze transactions via the API — Freeze, unfreeze, and check freeze state programmatically