Conduit sues Tether, claims $2.76M in USDT was frozen without explanation

News Editor

2026-10-06 21:00:44

Cross-border payments platform Conduit Technology has sued Tether in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that the stablecoin issuer froze $2.76 million in USDt held in Conduit’s treasury wallet in September 2025 without explanation. In the complaint, Conduit said Tether had no legal entitlement to the funds and no valid claim over them, adding that the freeze materially affected its business. The lawsuit said the action was tied to a Brazilian federal police investigation launched in 2024 into financial intermediary Bull Intermediação de Negócios and Onix, and alleged that Tether identified Conduit’s wallet as linked to those entities using its own criteria before freezing the funds on Sept. 24, 2025. Conduit said it repeatedly asked Tether to unfreeze the assets, but as of Monday the funds remained blocked. Cointelegraph said it contacted Tether for comment and did not receive an immediate response. The case follows another lawsuit filed about a month earlier by two Thai nationals, who accused Tether of freezing $42.4 million in USDt after what they described as an informal request from US Homeland Security Investigations in connection with a $61 million pig butchering case.

Cross-border payments platform Conduit Technology has filed suit against stablecoin issuer Tether, alleging that Tether froze $2.76 million in USDt (USDT) in September 2025 without explanation.

In a complaint filed Monday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Conduit said Tether froze funds belonging to the company even though it had "no legal entitlement" to them and "no claim" over them. Conduit said it began holding USDt in its digital treasury wallet in May 2025, and alleged that Tether froze the full $2.76 million in September with "no justification," an action the company said "materially impacted its business."

Conduit says the funds belong to the company

"The funds are unequivocally Conduit’s, but Tether has taken them and is denying Conduit access to them," the complaint said.

It added: "Tether is not allowed to take money from businesses just because they chose to store that money in Tether’s currency."

Freeze tied to a 2024 Brazilian investigation

According to the lawsuit, the freeze was connected to a Brazilian federal police investigation opened in 2024 into financial intermediary Bull Intermediação de Negócios and Onix. Conduit alleged that Tether, acting on its own initiative and using its own criteria, identified Conduit’s treasury wallet as tied to those companies and froze the $2.76 million on Sept. 24, 2025.

Conduit said it repeatedly asked Tether to release the funds, but that had not happened as of Monday. Cointelegraph said it reached out to Tether for comment on the lawsuit and did not receive an immediate response.

Another Tether freeze case was filed about a month earlier

The suit comes about a month after two Thai nationals sued Tether, alleging that the company froze $42.4 million in USDt after what they described as an "informal request" from US Homeland Security Investigations.

Those funds were allegedly part of a $61 million pig butchering case filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. That court issued a seizure warrant for the USDt in February.

Related report

Cointelegraph also noted in related coverage that Tether said it helped freeze $550 million in Iran-linked USDT this year.

This article was originally published by Bit.Fan. For more cryptocurrency news and market insights, visit www.bit.fan.

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