Key facts
- Two Thai businessmen have sued Tether in a New York district court.
Two Thai businessmen are suing Tether in a New York court, alleging the stablecoin issuer illegally froze $42.4 million in USDT in October 2025 without a warrant. The funds were later seized as part of a $61 million pig butchering scam investigation, but the plaintiffs claim Tether lacked the authority to freeze the assets.
This lawsuit tests the boundaries of stablecoin issuers' authority in freezing assets linked to illicit activities and could set a precedent for how such funds are handled in future investigations.
Two Thai businessmen have filed a lawsuit against stablecoin issuer Tether in a New York district court, alleging that the company unlawfully froze $42.4 million in Tether USDt (USDT) in October 2025. The plaintiffs claim Tether acted on an informal request from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, prior to a formal seizure warrant being issued in February 2026. This warrant was part of a larger investigation into a $61 million pig butchering scam. While the plaintiffs do not deny their involvement in the scam, their lawsuit challenges Tether's authority to freeze, burn, and reissue tokens, arguing that the company did not have the legal right to freeze the assets at the time. The suit seeks the unfreezing of the funds and potential punitive damages. Corporate attorney Ariel Givner noted that the complaint argues Tether locked secondary-market holders first and continued to earn Treasury yield on reserves before a warrant was obtained, which the plaintiffs believe still does not authorize a private issuer to take such actions.