PANews reported on October 17th that, according to DL News, stablecoin issuer Tether froze $44.7 million worth of USDT at the request of Bulgarian police in April of this year. Now, Texas-based Riverstone Consultancy Inc. has filed a lawsuit seeking an unfreeze. The firm accuses Tether of illegally freezing the tokens, causing it to miss out on investment opportunities. The lawsuit alleges that Tether failed to follow proper procedures for freezing the assets. Bulgaria's treaties with foreign countries require specific procedures for seizing or freezing foreign assets. When Riverstone contacted Tether, Tether directed it to contact the police, who ignored Riverstone's inquiries. The firm's lawyers did not respond to questions about the nature of the frozen USDT or the police allegations. However, cryptocurrency forensics experts believe the funds are indeed problematic. Anonymous analyst ZachXBT wrote on the X platform: "These funds originated from Ponzi scheme investment projects such as BETL, Pegasus Ride, and LSSC, and were transferred multiple times on-chain." Riverstone has requested a court order for Tether to unfreeze the funds and compensate it for at least $44.72 million in losses and interest.



Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin defended his blockchain’s 45-day exit queue after Galaxy Digital’s head of digital called it “troubling,” sparking backlash. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has finally addressed some concerns over the lengthening Ethereum staking exit queue, which has now grown to 45 days. His response came after Galaxy Digital’s head of DeFi, Michael Marcantonio, called the exit queue length “troubling” on X and compared it to Solana which only needs two days to unstake. He has since deleted the posts. However, Buterin seemingly took a more ideological stance on the subject, describing unstaking from Ethereum as “more like a soldier deciding to quit the army,” adding that staking is more about “taking on a solemn duty to defend the chain.”Read more