Two Thai entrepreneurs have launched a lawsuit against Tether in the Southern District of New York, claiming the company unlawfully froze approximately $42.4 million in USDT. Their complaint alleges that this action was taken without a court order, at the informal request of a federal agent.
Nutthawat Rukthammachalern and Natthawat Kasamvilas are calling for both the restoration of access to their funds and compensation for damages and profits they believe were accrued from the tokens’ backing reserves. The USDT in question is held across ten Ethereum addresses, which Tether reportedly blacklisted last October.
According to the lawsuit, the blacklisting occurred without any legal warrant, although a federal magistrate judge later issued a seizure warrant ordering Tether to burn the frozen tokens and mint new ones for transfer to a government wallet. The plaintiffs argue that this warrant does not retroactively justify the freeze and prohibited Tether from destroying the original tokens before a forfeiture judgment.
