Tether and Bitfinex Tied to Capstone Forfeiture Case

Tether and Bitfinex have been identified as the unnamed crypto firms at the center of a US forfeiture case against Capstone Ltd, according to people familiar with the matter. The Federal prosecutors in California froze about $84.2 million in Capstone's name, alleging that the payments group moved money without a license.

Capstone presented itself to banks as an IT services company, but actually disbursed $337 million between March and December 2025 through its Wells Fargo business account. Almost two-thirds of this money went to hundreds of recipients outside the US on behalf of Tether and Bitfinex.

The civil forfeiture complaint filed in July names neither company explicitly, but describes a crypto company, an affiliated exchange, and a bank in Dominica. Court records show that the seized property consists of five pieces, with $79.11 million being the largest amount in a Wells Fargo Securities account.