An $84 million US asset seizure just sparked a massive question for Tether
Tether said its exposure to EQIBank is less than 0.034% of group assets, but did not disclose the balance or whether it backs USDT. The US government’s forfeiture case involves about $84.2 million in bank balances and USDT; court records identify the bank accounts as belonging to payment processor Capstone, not Tether. EQIBank’s bid to recover seized property was denied, but the ruling did not decide ownership or the forfeiture case. Tether’s June reserve attestation reported $187.75 billion in assets and $183.64 billion in liabilities, but does not establish its September EQIBank exposure or access to those funds. No evidence links the seized assets to USDT reserves or indicates interrupted minting or redemptions, leaving a counterparty-access question rather than a proven loss or reserve shortfall.
