Tether and TrueUSD are under simultaneous legal scrutiny after court actions in Dubai and New York exposed disputes over stablecoin reserves and asset freezes.
In Dubai International Financial Centre Courts, Matthew William Brittain has until September 7 at 4 p.m. Gulf Standard Time to serve an affidavit explaining the original sources and ultimate beneficial owners of funds used for legal and advisory bills in the $456 million TrueUSD reserves dispute. Techteryx obtained a proprietary injunction and worldwide freeze against Aria Commodities DMCC covering funds transferred from Legacy Trust and First Digital Trust. The court also ordered disclosure of a $1,083,912.49 payment made by Aria Bio Industries FZE on October 31, 2025 toward Aria Commodities’ legal costs. Failure to comply may lead to sanctions, though the court must consider any further application. The committal hearing has been adjourned to October 26 for an estimated four days, and Justice Michael Black said further adjournments would require “the most extreme circumstances.”
In the United States, plaintiffs Nutthawat Rukthammachalern and Natthawat Kasamvilas filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on August 31, 2026, against four Tether entities. They allege Tether blacklisted 10 Ethereum addresses holding 42,417,785.62 USDT on October 30, 2025, after an informal request from a Homeland Security Investigations agent, without a warrant, subpoena, or court order. A seizure warrant was not issued until February 19, 2026, 112 days later. The plaintiffs seek removal of the blacklist, an order barring transfer or burning while the dispute continues, and damages plus alleged reserve income.
