[CLSTR]
< Back to situation

[REVISION HISTORY]

U.S. asset seizure involving Capstone Ltd. and EQIBank

Updated 2 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-09-26 12:42 UTC → 2026-09-27 22:14 UTC · added removed

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize approximately $84.2 million in assets linked to Capstone Ltd., a Montana-based payments firm. Prosecutors allege Capstone operated as an unlicensed money transmitter in at least six states and misrepresented itself to major financial institutions, including Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, as an IT services company to facilitate international transfers. Court documents reveal that over $700 million passed through a single Wells Fargo account belonging to Capstone between March and December. Prosecutors further claim Capstone facilitated the conversion of cash from impersonation fraud schemes targeting elderly citizens into stablecoins. Investigations indicate Capstone acted as a conduit for cryptocurrency companies Tether and Bitfinex through EQIBank, a digital bank licensed in Dominica. The seizure has significant implications for EQIBank, which reported that the frozen funds represent roughly 80% of its total monetary holdings, warning that the loss could lead to formal liquidation proceedings. A federal judge in the Eastern District of California has already denied EQIBank’s motion to recover the property. Tether has disclosed that its exposure to EQIBank is approximately $64 million, which represents less than 0.034% of its total group assets. Tether emphasized that the seizure will not impact the stability of USDT, though it has not provided a direct link between its EQIBank exposure and USDT reserves. Tether and Bitfinex have denied any knowledge of Capstone’s alleged fraudulent conduct, stating they were merely customers of EQIBank and that their exposure to the bank is minimal. Tether has noted that the affected funds represent less than 0.034% of its total assets. EQIBank. Despite the potential counterparty risk and the threat to EQIBank, risk, major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have remained relatively stable.

Versions

  1. 2026-09-27 22:14 UTC U.S. asset seizure involving Capstone Ltd. and EQIBank
  2. 2026-09-26 12:42 UTC U.S. asset seizure involving Capstone Ltd. and EQIBank
  3. 2026-09-26 11:25 UTC U.S. asset seizure involving Capstone Ltd. and EQIBank

Only revisions since CLSTR began indexing content versions appear here. Select a version to see what changed compared to the one before it.