US Asset Seizure Exposes Counterparty Risk in Crypto Banking

The US Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture complaint targeting roughly $84.2 million in property connected to Capstone, a payments processor, in July 2026. A court order in September identified seized assets: $79.11 million in a Wells Fargo Securities account, $1.86 million in a Wells Fargo bank account, $2.06 million at JPMorgan Chase, and USDT at two crypto addresses. EQIBank, the banking partner of Capstone, had acted as the conduit for these transactions.

Tether, which banks with EQIBank, confirmed on October 5 that its exposure was less than 0.034% of total group assets. The company stated that it was unaware of the alleged conduct. EQIBank claims innocent-owner status, stating approximately $89 million in funds tied to its payment processing were seized.

The seizure has exposed a critical blind spot in crypto banking: counterparty risk. This risk can freeze your funds, even if the platform's security architecture is robust. Neobanks like OneSafe are fintech companies using partner banks, not licensed depositories; a partner bank seizure can halt client fund movement regardless of the neobank's security architecture.

The seizure has significant implications for DAOs and Web3 startups that rely on crypto banking platforms for treasury and payroll. If the fiat leg is frozen at a partner bank, the DAO can't access dollars, even if stablecoins are solvent.