Tether Banking Partner EQIBank Has $90 Million in Assets Seized by U.S. Department of Justice
nashnova research
The U.S. Department of Justice seized roughly $90 million from accounts that Tether's offshore banking partner EQIBank held through intermediary Capstone at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan; EQIBank says the frozen funds are 80% of its assets and it faces collapse, while Tether calls its exposure less than 0.034% of group assets.
What happened?
The DOJ in July seized about $90 million from accounts held by Sacramento-based Capstone Limited at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.
Capstone served as the U.S. payment intermediary for EQIBank, a Caribbean bank that processed wire transfers for Tether clients buying and selling stablecoins.
This means → the DOJ's direct target is the intermediary Capstone, but the shockwave traveled up the funding chain to EQIBank — and from there to Tether.
How did Capstone get inside the U.S. banking system?
When opening accounts, Capstone described itself as an information-technology company, concealing its actual money-transfer business.
Asked whether it held funds on behalf of others or dealt in "virtual currency," Capstone answered "no" to both — sidestepping the extra regulatory scrutiny applied to money transmitters.
In May 2025, Citi flagged suspicious activity in a routine review and shut Capstone's account on money-laundering concerns; Capstone then moved funds to Wells Fargo, which ultimately triggered the DOJ seizure.
In plain terms = Capstone lied to the banks and hopped from one to the next until it ran out of places to hide.
Why was EQIBank dragged in?
EQIBank is a Caribbean bank that, as a foreign institution, cannot directly access the U.S. banking system.
Starting in 2024 it used Capstone as its onshore intermediary, relying on Capstone's accounts at top U.S. banks to move funds.
The seized ~$90 million represents 80% of EQIBank's total assets, and the bank says it now faces collapse.
EQIBank has sued to recover the funds, calling itself an "innocent asset holder"; the U.S. government has indicated EQIBank is not a target of its investigation.
How exposed is Tether?
Tether confirmed it is an EQIBank client but said its assets there amount to less than 0.034% of group assets.
Based on Tether's disclosed total assets of $187.8 billion as of June 30, 2026, that translates to roughly $64 million.
Tether reported excess reserves — assets above the value of all issued tokens — of $4.1 billion in the same period, more than enough to absorb the exposure.
This means → by the numbers alone, this is not an existential threat to Tether — but reputational risk is a different matter.
What structural weakness does this expose?
Stablecoin issuers cannot open accounts directly at major U.S. banks and must rely on multiple layers of intermediaries to access the U.S. financial system.
A compliance failure at any intermediary layer — like Capstone — can travel up the chain and hit the stablecoin issuer itself.
This reflects a fundamental vulnerability in the stablecoin industry today: if your chosen middleman breaks the rules, your money can get frozen.
Whether this risk narrows as a regulatory framework takes shape remains to be seen.
市场有风险，内容仅供研究参考，不构成投资建议。