USDT Frozen Three Months Early: 42.4178 Million USDT Seized, Tether Sued by Two Thai Businessmen

According to Odaily, two Thai businessmen, Nutthawat Rukthammachalern and Natthawat Kasamvilas, have filed a lawsuit against stablecoin issuer Tether in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that Tether blacklisted 42.4178 million USDT. The lawsuit was filed on August 31 and refiled the following day. On-chain records show that 10 Ethereum addresses were batch-frozen on October 30, 2025, within a span of two and a half minutes, while the seizure order cited in the lawsuit is dated February 19, 2026—a gap of more than three months. The plaintiffs claim they purchased USDT on the secondary market and had no contractual relationship with Tether. The complaint alleges that Tether acted at the informal request of the U.S. government, conveyed through Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, before the seizure order was issued. On November 2, 2025, Tether informed Natthawat Kasamvilas that it had "no further information," without disclosing that it had already frozen the funds on its own initiative. The lawsuit asserts five causes of action, including conversion, trover, and unjust enrichment. The defendants are four Tether entities: Tether Holdings, Tether International, Tether Operations, and Tether Investments. The case is presided over by Judge Lewis J. Liman. Tether has previously stated that its cooperation with law enforcement has resulted in the cumulative freezing of over $4.4 billion in assets, with more than $2.1 billion of that total linked to U.S. authorities.