Tether Sued Over Alleged Unlawful Freeze of $42.4 Million in USDT
Two Thai businessmen filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York accusing Tether of freezing about $42.4 million in USDT without proper legal authority. The complaint says Tether blacklisted ten Ethereum addresses last October at the informal request of a Homeland Security Investigations agent, before any warrant or court order existed. A later seizure warrant, issued months afterward, allegedly did not retroactively justify the freeze or authorize Tether to burn the original tokens before forfeiture was finalized. The plaintiffs say they bought the USDT through secondary-market business transactions, never opened Tether accounts, and never accepted Tether’s terms. Tether has the technical ability to blacklist addresses and burn tokens, and it says it cooperates extensively with law enforcement. The company did not immediately comment.
