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FollowingTether was sued by two Thai businessmen for freezing US$42.4 million in USDT. The issuer said the lawsuit was "unfounded"
Tether is currently facing a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York over the freezing of US$42.4 million in USDT belonging to two Thai businessmen, Nutthawat Rukthammachalern and Natthawat Kasamvilas.
The plaintiff alleges that Tether blacklisted their Ethereum addresses at the end of October 2025 after receiving an informal request from an agent of the U.S. Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), with a total of 42.4 million USDTs frozen. According to the two businessmen, the stablecoin issuer took the action without obtaining a search warrant, court order or prior notice.
Funds linked to the "pig killing plate" investigation
According to the latest information from lawyer Ariel Givner, the funds appear to be related to a "pig killing plate" case being investigated by the HSI Raleigh branch. The investigation began with a victim's report involving dating and investment fraud, fake trading platforms, and attempts to launder funds by transferring stolen USDT through multiple wallets.
One of the wallets associated with the plaintiff held approximately US$26.1 million, which had previously been identified as a collection address in the "accumulation, stratification, integration" flow of funds.
A search warrant was subsequently issued. On February 19, 2026, the Eastern District Court of North Carolina issued search warrant No. 5:26-MJ-1267-JG, ordering Tether to destroy the frozen USDT and reminte the tokens into the government wallet. Five days later, EDNC and HSI announced that they had seized US$61 million in USDT. The funds were traced to addresses allegedly related to money laundering activities to wash defrauded funds from victims of "pig killing trays". Tether was publicly thanked for executing the transfer.
However, the lawsuit does not challenge the government's assertion that the funds are related to proceeds of fraud. Instead, the plaintiffs questioned whether Tether had the right to freeze, destroy and reissue the USDT they claimed was purchased on the secondary market. The two men argued: "The defendant directly profited from the freezing. The defendants used the actual dollars they received when they minted the USDT to purchase interest-bearing financial instruments, mainly U.S. Treasury bonds held in New York."
Their claims include declaratory sentences, embezzlement of property, trespass on movable property, unjust enrichment, and injunctive relief. The two demanded that the freeze be lifted, compensation for losses if the tokens were destroyed, refund of reserve interest incurred during the freeze period, and punitive damages.
Tether defends law enforcement role
The stablecoin issuer defended the freeze. "The new lawsuit against Tether has no basis and is intended to interfere with Tether's important work of working with global law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, to prevent the illegal use of USDT," the stablecoin issuer said in a statement.
