42.4 million dollars disappeared? The massive lawsuit shaking the crypto world

Two businessmen from Thailand, Nattawat Ruktama-cheran and Nattawat Kasamwilas, filed a lawsuit in the New York federal court against the company Tether. The plaintiffs claim that the issuer of the USDT currency froze, without legal authority, about 42.4 million dollars held in 10 addresses on the Ethereum network.

According to the lawsuit, Tether blacklisted the addresses last October following an unofficial request from an agent of the US Department of Homeland Security (HSI), without a court order or proper legal procedure. Only about four months later was a forfeiture order issued in North Carolina, which allowed Tether to burn the frozen coins, issue replacements, and transfer them to a government-controlled wallet.

The plaintiffs, represented by attorney Mark Beckett, clarify that they purchased the coins in legitimate commercial transactions on the secondary market, are not direct customers of Tether, and the company has no contractual or legal right to freeze their assets.

Conversely, the company Tether strongly rejects the accusations. In an official response, the company stated:

"This is a baseless attempt to interfere with Tether's important work with global law enforcement agencies, including the US Department of Justice, to prevent the illegal use of USDT."

The company has previously noted that it cooperates with more than 340 law enforcement agencies in 65 countries.

As a reminder, the lawsuit comes against the backdrop of a negative trend experienced by the crypto market at the beginning of the week, when most leading currencies showed price declines. The Tether coin, which holds third place in the market with a value of about 186.06 billion dollars, recorded a slight daily decline of 0.02%, alongside sharper declines recorded in leading currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.