Tether's Exposure to Troubled Offshore Bank Revealed
Tether, the issuer of the popular stablecoin USDT, has revealed that less than 0.034% of its assets are held at EQIBank, an offshore bank that was hit by US seizures.
According to Tether's spokesperson, the company's holdings at EQIBank amount to 'less than 0.034% of the assets of the group', which would be equivalent to around $63.8 million based on the firm's total assets in its second-quarter reserves report.
EQIBank, a Dominica-licensed bank, claims that US seizures took roughly 80% of its financial assets, making it difficult for the bank to operate. The bank's co-founder Christopher Burke stated that the seized money made up 'roughly 80%' of the bank's financial assets and that the bank 'cannot operate much longer' without some of it.
The US Department of Justice is seeking to forfeit about $83 million held by Capstone Ltd., a US payments company, which had its funds frozen at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. Tether has maintained that it had no knowledge of the conduct by Capstone alleged by the Department of Justice.