Brazilian Court Rules in Favor of Gurhan Kiziloz, Clearing Path for $527M Asset Release

A Brazilian federal appellate court has ruled in favour of Gurhan Kiziloz, clearing the first of what is expected to be several procedural steps toward releasing $527 million in frozen Tether and physical assets. The decision, delivered by the Regional Federal Court of the 1st Region (TRF1), addresses the legality of a freeze imposed on Kiziloz's companies in May.

The original freeze affected $213 million across 48 Tether wallets connected to Kiziloz, alongside $314 million in corporate and physical assets. The two portfolios have been consolidated into a single docket, and the appellate court has granted an initial injunction beginning the unfreezing process.

The dispute stems from Kiziloz's operations in Brazil between 2021 and 2024, during which his companies ran offshore betting platforms serving Brazilian users and cryptocurrency token sales. At that time, Brazil did not have a formalised licensing regime for either gambling or token issuance. When the country introduced these frameworks in 2024, tax authorities applied them retroactively to Kiziloz's past operations.

Kiziloz challenged this approach, arguing that obligations cannot attach to a period without domestic pathways for compliance. The appellate judges appear to have found his argument persuasive, holding that freezing half a billion dollars on the basis of a 2024 tax code, applied backward onto 2021-2024 conduct, exceeded jurisdictional limits.