Conduit Sues Tether Over $2.76 Million Frozen USDT
Cross-border payments firm Conduit Technology sued Tether on Oct. 5 over $2.76 million in USDT frozen since September 2025. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks access to the funds and at least $2.76 million in damages.
Conduit says Tether froze its treasury wallet during a Brazilian investigation involving former customer Onix Intermediações. However, Conduit claims Brazilian authorities never identified its wallet for freezing. The company says the wallet was created after Onix stopped using its platform and never held Onix funds. Conduit also alleges Tether used its own criteria to freeze the assets without explaining the decision.
The frozen wallet served as Conduit’s working capital for international payments, according to the complaint. The company says it processed more than $1.1 billion through the wallet before the freeze and suffered reduced payment capacity, layoffs and office closures afterward. Tether had not publicly responded to the allegations as of Oct. 7. The case adds to legal scrutiny over Tether’s ability to restrict USDT held in third-party wallets.
Why it matters
The case could test how far stablecoin issuers can restrict privately held tokens without direct government orders. That may affect confidence in USDT as a payments and treasury asset.
