Tether froze 42.4 million USDT three months in advance and was sued by a Thai businessman

Two Thai businessmen, Nutthawat Rukthammachalern and Natthawat Kasamvilas, have sued the stablecoin issuer Tether in the Southern District of New York Federal Court, accusing it of blacklisting 42,417,785.62 USDT. The lawsuit was filed on August 31 and refiled the next day. On-chain records show that these 10 Ethereum addresses were bulk frozen within two and a half minutes on October 30, 2025, while the date of the seizure order cited in the lawsuit is February 19, 2026, more than three months apart.

The plaintiffs claim to have purchased USDT on the secondary market and have no contractual relationship with Tether. The complaint states that Tether acted at the informal request of an agent from the U.S. government through the Department of Homeland Security (HSI) before the seizure order was issued, and informed Kasamvilas on November 2, 2025, that it had "no further information," but did not disclose that it had frozen the funds on its own. The lawsuit includes five claims, such as conversion, conversion of personal property, and unjust enrichment, with the defendants being Tether Holdings, Tether International, Tether Operations, and Tether Investments, and the case is presided over by Judge Lewis J. Liman.

Tether previously stated that its cooperation with law enforcement has resulted in the freezing of over $4.4 billion in assets, of which more than $2.1 billion is related to U.S. authorities.