U.S. prosecutors froze approximately $84 million in accounts belonging to Capstone, a Montana-based payments business, in a civil forfeiture action alleging the firm illegally transferred hundreds of millions of dollars without a license.
The Department of Justice claims Capstone processed payments on behalf of stablecoin issuer Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex, acting at the direction of EQIBank, which facilitated the transfers.
Tether confirmed it maintains an account at EQIBank and said its exposure through assets held there represents only 0.034 percent of its total holdings. A company spokesperson said Tether had no knowledge of any alleged misconduct.
For context: USDT's market cap sits at roughly $184 billion, meaning Tether's exposure through EQIBank amounts to less than $63 million—a rounding error relative to the stablecoin's footprint.
