Tether Sued Over Alleged Informal Freeze of $42M USDT

Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, is facing a federal lawsuit over its actions in October 2025. The company allegedly blacklisted 10 Ethereum addresses containing $42.4 million worth of USDT after receiving an informal request from a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent.

The plaintiffs claim that no warrant, subpoena, or court order was issued at the time Tether imposed the blacklist. A blackout can prevent tokens held at designated addresses from moving through Tether's smart-contract controls.

However, a federal seizure warrant was obtained on February 19, 2026, in North Carolina, more than three months after the alleged October freeze. The plaintiffs argue that this later warrant cannot retroactively validate the earlier action.