Tether Funds Frozen in US Govt Seizure Amid Allegations Against Payment Processor
Tether, the issuer of the popular USDT stablecoin, has confirmed that some of its funds are stuck at EQIBank, a Caribbean digital bank based in Dominica. This comes after U.S. authorities seized money held through Capstone Ltd., EQIBank's payment processor, in an alleged case of misrepresentation.
The total amount frozen is valued around $84.2 million, with about 1.12 million USDT and 54,578.45 USDT held at two separate crypto addresses. EQIBank has estimated its loss to be around $89 million.
Tether stated that the affected funds are less than 0.034% of its group assets and that it was unaware of the conduct federal prosecutors allege against Capstone. If the U.S. government's forfeiture complaint is successful, Tether could lose up to $63.8 million, putting pressure on its reserve cushion and market confidence.