Tether Sued Over $42.4M USDT Freeze Before Seizure Warrant
Thai businessmen Nutthawat Rukthammachalern and Natthawat Kasamvilas have filed a lawsuit against Tether over $42.4 million in USDT that was allegedly frozen nearly four months before U.S. authorities obtained a seizure warrant.
The lawsuit, which was filed on August 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims that Tether blacklisted 10 Ethereum addresses holding a combined $42.4 million USDT on October 30, 2025, following an informal request from a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent.
The plaintiffs argue that there was no warrant, court order, subpoena, or other formal legal process authorizing the freeze at the time. A magistrate judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina later issued a seizure warrant on February 19, 2026.