$84M Tether-Linked Asset Freeze Fuels Questions Over Unlicensed Crypto Money Transmission

A US forfeiture case has frozen $84.2 million tied to Capstone Ltd., a payments company allegedly linked to unlicensed money transmission and a fraud scheme.

Court records show that between March and December 2025, $337 million flowed out of Capstone's Wells Fargo business account, with nearly two-thirds going to recipients outside the US. Tether and Bitfinex are said to be behind Capstone, having routed funds through EQIBank, a digital bank licensed in Dominica.

The seizure has left 80% of EQIBank's monetary assets frozen, with a judge denying the bank's bid to recover the money.