Victims of the U.S. terror attack request the court to compel Tether to transfer $344 million in frozen USDT

BlockBeats News, May 15 — A group of victims holding judgments related to terrorism in Iran has filed a motion with the U.S. Federal Court, demanding that Tether transfer its $341.75 million USDT (approximately $344 million) frozen at OFAC-sanctioned addresses.

The documents were submitted to the Southern District of New York Federal Court. The plaintiffs state that these USDT correspond to approximately $2.42 billion in existing judgment compensation involving entities related to Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The plaintiffs argue that Tether not only has the technical capability but also, under the U.S. “New York Enforcement Law” and anti-terrorism enforcement regulations, has an obligation to “zero out” the balances at the sanctioned addresses and re-mint equivalent USDT to transfer to designated wallets.

Legal documents indicate that Tether has previously carried out similar actions in multiple enforcement operations, including a 2025 asset seizure case in cooperation with the FBI in November 2025, and a case in Ohio in April 2025 involving “destroying and reissuing” stablecoins to addresses under law enforcement control.

This motion essentially seeks to push stablecoin issuers from the role of “frozen assets” holders to a further upgraded role as “court-ordered technical executors of asset transfer and reissuance,” sparking further discussion on the legal attributes and enforcement boundaries of stablecoins.