Tether sued over alleged $42.4 million USDT freeze before U.S. warrant

Nutthawat Rukthammachalern and Natthawat Kasamvilas sued Tether in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Their Aug. 31 complaint alleges that Tether froze 42.4 million USDT across 10 Ethereum addresses on Oct. 30, 2025. The complaint alleges that the freeze occurred months before U.S. authorities obtained a seizure warrant on Feb. 19. The plaintiffs allege that Tether acted on an informal request from a U.S. law enforcement agent. They said no warrant or other legal process existed when Tether froze the tokens. The plaintiffs said they acquired the USDT through secondary-market business transactions. They said they had no direct relationship with Tether. They want the court to order Tether to remove the addresses from its blacklist. They also want the court to prevent Tether from destroying the frozen tokens. They want the court to prevent Tether from issuing replacements to a government-controlled wallet before a final forfeiture ruling. The lawsuit seeks damages. It also seeks the return of interest or other income that Tether earned from reserves backing the frozen USDT. The claims include conversion. The claims include trespass to chattels. The claims include unjust enrichment. Tether had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.