Tether has confirmed that it holds some assets with offshore banking partner EQIBank, but said the amount represents less than 0.034% of its total group assets.
The disclosure comes as EQIBank is challenging the seizure of a large amount of money and crypto assets by U.S. authorities.
Tether said it had used EQIBank for banking services, including processing wire transfers connected to USDT purchases and redemptions. However, the company said it was not aware of the conduct that U.S. prosecutors have alleged against payment provider Capstone Ltd.
Tether said the assets held at EQIBank account for less than 0.034% of its total assets. The company did not provide an exact dollar figure.
Tether reported $187.75 billion in total assets as of June 30. Using the 0.034% figure as a maximum would put the EQIBank exposure at roughly $63.8 million, although the actual amount could be lower.
Tether also reported about $183.64 billion in liabilities and an excess reserve buffer of $4.11 billion at the end of June. USDT circulation stood at around $184.6 billion.
The company said most of its reserves remain invested in liquid assets, including U.S. Treasury-related investments and repurchase agreements.
The EQIBank situation involves one banking relationship and does not by itself show that Tether’s other banking partners face the same issue.
The U.S. forfeiture case involves roughly $84.2 million in assets that prosecutors are seeking to seize permanently.
Court documents show that about $79.11 million was seized from a Wells Fargo Securities account held in Capstone’s name. Another $1.86 million came from a Wells Fargo Bank account, while around $2.06 million was taken from a JPMorgan Chase account.
The government also listed more than 1.17 million USDT held across two cryptocurrency addresses. Together, the assets listed in the case are worth around $84.2 million based on the dollar value of USDT.
EQIBank has presented a different figure, saying U.S. authorities seized around $89 million belonging to the bank through Capstone. The bank says that amount represents about 80% of its monetary holdings and has warned that losing access to the funds could put its operations at serious risk.
The difference between the $89 million claimed by EQIBank and the roughly $84.2 million listed by prosecutors comes from separate court filings and has not yet been resolved.
EQIBank first went to federal court on June 29 and asked for the seized property to be returned. The U.S. government later filed a separate civil forfeiture case involving the Capstone accounts and cryptocurrency.
On July 16, Judge Dale A. Drozd denied EQIBank’s request because the government had already started the civil forfeiture process.
The decision did not determine whether EQIBank ultimately owns the seized assets or whether the government will be allowed to keep them.
The case remains active. In September, the court ordered the EQIBank matter and the government’s forfeiture case to be handled by the same district and magistrate judges because the cases are related. The court did not merge the two cases.
EQIBank continues to argue that it is the innocent owner of the funds. The bank has also said that it is not a target of the investigation.
The forfeiture case has not yet reached a final judgment, so the ownership dispute remains unresolved.
Separately, Tether recently provided more information about its financial position through its first full independent audit.
KPMG U.S. issued an unqualified opinion on Tether’s financial statements for the year ending Dec. 31, 2025. Tether said the audit showed that its reserves exceeded liabilities connected to issued tokens by $6.814 billion at the end of 2025.
The audit covered areas including asset ownership, valuations, counterparties, transactions and internal systems.
However, that audit does not determine how much Tether currently holds at EQIBank. Tether’s latest statement only gives a percentage limit for its exposure, while the U.S. forfeiture case focuses on funds held through Capstone accounts at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.
For now, the EQIBank case remains in court, while Tether says its exposure to the bank represents only a very small portion of its overall assets.
