Tether's Bank Exposure Comes Out to Roughly One Penny Per Thousand 📌

Tether disclosed that roughly 0.034% of its total assets were held at EQIBank, the Wyoming-based bank identified in a U.S. Department of Justice civil forfeiture complaint that resulted in approximately $84 million being frozen from a payments processor. In a statement to Cointelegraph, a Tether spokesperson confirmed the company was a customer of EQIBank but said it had "no knowledge" of any of the alleged conduct described in the filing.

The complaint, which targets the Montana-based payments business Capstone, alleges that EQIBank directed Capstone to send and receive money on behalf of "hundreds of individuals and entities," including Tether and Bitfinex. Justice Department officials alleged Capstone operated as an unlicensed money-transmitting business, according to the Financial Times.

Tether did not respond to a question about how the seizure could affect its customers. The disclosure arrived as the $USDT stablecoin held a market capitalization of approximately $184 billion as of Friday, according to public market data.

The company spokesperson added that the funds parked at EQIBank were not material to the issuer's operations, characterizing the bank's relationship as limited. The Justice Department's complaint does not name Tether, Bitfinex, or their principals as defendants in the forfeiture action.

The development follows separate reporting that South Korean police are drafting rules governing the seizure of digital assets following recent custody lapses, a parallel effort that is shaping how enforcement agencies in major Asian markets approach crypto-related asset recovery.