$84M Seized from Payment Processor Linked to Tether
A federal civil forfeiture filing has seized $84.2 million linked to Capstone, a payment processing company based in Montana, accused of operating as a money transmitter without necessary licenses. This case, which emerged publicly on September 24 and 25, involves Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer worldwide, but neither the company nor its affiliated exchange Bitfinex is accused of any wrongdoing.
The forfeiture filing, dated September 14, 2026, does not directly name Tether or Bitfinex. It refers to 'a cryptocurrency company,' an 'affiliated exchange,' and a bank in Dominica. The Financial Times connected these references to Tether, Bitfinex, and EQIBank through unidentified sources, which Tether has since confirmed is accurate for its business relationship with the bank but not for the alleged misconduct.
The seizure involved $79,012,500 from a Wells Fargo Securities account in Capstone's name, $1,860,000 from another Wells Fargo account, $2,560,000 from JPMorgan Chase, and over $1 million in USDT distributed across two crypto addresses. EQIBank, the digital bank with licenses in Dominica, allegedly directed the payment processing company's actions on moving funds.
Tether has stated that it uses EQIBank for its wire transfers related to USDT issuance and redemption but maintains no knowledge of Capstone's alleged misconduct. Tether estimated its potential exposure at less than 0.034% of its total assets, based on its latest quarterly report, which would correspond to approximately $63.8 million.
The relationship between Tether and EQIBank goes beyond a simple customer-supplier dynamic, according to the Financial Times, as Tether had invested in EQIBank and offered to increase support in exchange for opening a bank account for Tether in Singapore. However, this detail comes from documents cited by the Financial Times and not directly confirmed by Tether.
It is essential to clarify that neither Tether nor Bitfinex are accused of any wrongdoing in this procedure, as the prosecutors have not charged them with any crimes. The two companies are mentioned solely regarding the funds transferred through Capstone and EQIBank for legitimate payments.