EQIBank, used by Tether, had 80% of its assets frozen as part of a seizure targeting Capstone Limited, according to reporting from the Financial Times.

According to the reporting, the relationship between Tether and EQIBank was related to Marlin Capital Partners.

This reporting further claims that Marlin Capital, which has been serving as an investment advisor for Tether, has invested in EQIBank. It also reportedly promised additional investment in EQIBank if it could successfully help Tether open an account at Singapore-based DBS.

EQIBank did claim in a filing that it had a relationship with a firm called Clarency “that provided correspondent banking through DBS Singapore.”

The bank was apparently relying on a firm called Capstone Limited to help it place deposits in the US and maintain relationships with US-based banks.

According to a complaint for forfeiture filed in July, Capstone was allegedly misrepresenting the nature of its business to banks, including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and Citibank.

It claimed it was an “application development service,” rather than a money services business.

Capstone Limited is registered as a money services business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). However, it’s only registered in Montana, not in California where it actually operated, and it didn’t highlight that this was its business with the banks.

This registration was emphasized when Capstone Limited was negotiating with EQIBank, apparently including “a signed agreement between Dominica Bank 1 and Capstone dated August 20, 2024.”

It stated that Capstone “is a FinCEN-registered technology development company and money service business.”

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