Tether sued over alleged unlawful $42.4M USDT freeze

Two Thai businessmen sued Tether on Aug. 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenging the issuer’s authority to freeze approximately 42.4 million USDT before authorities secured a seizure warrant. Summary Tether faces a New York lawsuit over 42.4 million USDT frozen after an HSI request. Plaintiffs allege no warrant or court order existed when Tether blacklisted their ten Ethereum addresses. A February seizure warrant directed Tether to burn USDT and reissue tokens into government custody. Prosecutors separately said over 61 million USDT was traced to wallets linked with investment fraud. Plaintiffs seek declaratory relief, an injunction, damages, reserve income disgorgement, and punitive damages from Tether. Nutthawat Rukthammachalern and Natthawat Kasamvilas allege in their complaint that Tether blacklisted ten Ethereum addresses containing precisely 42,417,785.62 USDT on Oct. 30, 2025. The allegations have not been adjudicated, and Tether had not filed a public response as of Sept. 2. UPDATE – It appears that the $42.4M Tether freeze in this suit stems from a North Carolina pig-butchering case.HSI Raleigh opened it from a victim tip: romance/i...