Tether downplays impact of US seizure at banking partner EQIBank

# Tether downplays impact of US seizure at banking partner EQIBank

> Evidence tier: B1
> Evidence type: Independent digital asset media report
> Source: [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/09/25/tether-confirms-minimal-eqibank-exposure-following-usd89m-us-asset-seizure)
> Published: 2026-09-25
> Captured: 2026-09-25T17:12:09.088Z

## Source summary

CoinDesk reports that U.S. prosecutors seized funds from accounts used by payment processor Capstone and filed a civil-forfeiture case, alleging Capstone misrepresented its business to banks. EQIBank said roughly $89 million was seized. Tether confirmed it used EQIBank for wire transfers linked to USDT purchases and redemptions, said its exposure was below 0.034% of group assets, and said it had no knowledge of the conduct alleged by the Department of Justice; it did not disclose an exact exposure amount. The report says the disclosure indicated no immediate threat to USDT’s reserves or dollar peg.

## Why it matters

This connects a stablecoin issuer’s purchase/redemption wire-transfer path to a bank and U.S. payment processor facing a civil-forfeiture case. It is a counterparty-risk signal, not proof that Tether’s reserves or USDT redemptions were impaired; the exposure figure is a percentage supplied by Tether, while the exact amount was not disclosed.

## Key numbers

- **EQIBank-reported U.S. asset seizure:** about $89 million
- **Tether-stated exposure share:** less than 0.034%

## Topics and entities

- Industry lane: Web3 & stablecoin payments
- Entities: Tether / EQIBank / Capstone
- Web3 payments
- Payment infrastructure

## Evidence and credibility note

Independent CoinDesk report citing court filings, EQIBank statements, and Tether’s response; the U.S. case contains allegations, not findings of guilt. Tether did not disclose an exact dollar exposure, and the article reports no immediate threat to USDT’s peg.

Date evidence: Automatically verified from JSON-LD datePublished: 2026-09-25T14:32:48.144Z

## First-party corroboration

No directly corresponding A1 company announcement is currently linked.

## Original-source traceback

[Open the original CoinDesk report](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/09/25/tether-confirms-minimal-eqibank-exposure-following-usd89m-us-asset-seizure)

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This is a structured Payments Hot Markdown source summary derived from external reporting. Use the original link above to read the publisher's article; copyright remains with the original publisher.