On October 8, 2026, Senator Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, asked Cantor Fitzgerald chairman Brandon Lutnick to preserve documents and answer questions about the firm’s relationship with Tether by October 23, 2026. The five-page letter lists no release time or inquiry number. It says Cantor’s stake in Tether has risen from $600 million to an estimated $10 billion since President Trump’s return to office.
The request comes from the Subcommittee’s minority and describes an investigation. It is not an enforcement order, a finding against Cantor, or a change to the operation or redemption of $USDT. Its immediate effect is a document deadline for Cantor. The requested material could show how the company handles Tether’s reserves, compliance monitoring, ownership interests and contacts with federal officials.
What the Senate request covers
Blumenthal says the minority is investigating illicit cryptocurrency use alongside what the letter calls the Trump Administration’s self-enrichment and dealings with crypto firms. The letter states that former Cantor chairman Howard Lutnick, now Commerce Secretary, made more than $250 million during the same period, including a $192 million distribution from Cantor. Those are allegations and estimates presented by the senator, not findings reached through this request.
The letter describes Cantor’s economics with Tether in two parts. It cites the firm’s 5% ownership stake, valued in the letter at $600 million before rising to an estimated $10 billion. It also says Cantor collects tens of millions of dollars each year from assets it holds for Tether. The senator asks Cantor to provide the annual revenue the partnership has produced and the annual amount the Lutnick family has received from it.
Custody is central to the inquiry. Blumenthal writes that Tether claims to operate from El Salvador while the vast majority of its assets are in the United States under Cantor’s custodianship. He requests records describing that custodial relationship, including financial audits and documentation concerning holdings on Tether’s behalf. He also asks when the partnership began and what circumstances brought the firms together.
The audit question is direct. Cantor must say whether it requires regular audits of Tether and its operations by a credible independent auditor to verify asset values. A separate request seeks descriptions of services Cantor provides, investment positions it holds in Tether or for Tether, and any decision-making or oversight role it has in the partnership.
Ownership and financing receive their own document request. The senator seeks records on Cantor’s ownership stake in Tether, the terms under which Howard Lutnick relinquished his Cantor stake, and any Tether loan or other provision that enabled him to transfer that interest to his children. The letter also requests communications about the Lutnick family’s Tether ownership interests and any potential fundraising.
Compliance and sanctions questions
The letter ties these business questions to the Subcommittee minority’s September 28 report on Iranian shadow banking. Blumenthal says the report examined wallets targeted for associations with Iran and its proxies. He alleges that the analysis showed those actors had shifted toward Tether and that Tether had not frozen or destroyed funds in wallets receiving or providing millions of dollars, sometimes tens or hundreds of millions, to illicit actors.
Cantor is asked to describe how it regularly monitors and assesses Tether’s compliance with Office of Foreign Assets Control rules and anti-money-laundering requirements. The request also asks what conditions would make Cantor end a business relationship and whether it has conducted such a review of Tether. Another item seeks the steps Cantor has taken to investigate allegations involving illicit finance, Iran’s shadow banking network and Russian sanctions evasion.
The senator requests Cantor’s know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering policies for business partners. He also wants procedures for continuing due diligence on Tether and for de-risking partners in foreign jurisdictions. The letter defines the requested period as January 1, 2023, to the present unless an item says otherwise.
The inquiry extends to communications. Cantor is asked for records Howard Lutnick sent while employed by the firm concerning Tether compliance, custodial work, lobbying, fundraising and discussions with the White House or regulators. The senator separately requests communications about Howard Lutnick’s involvement with Tether after he left the chairmanship, as well as communications between Cantor and any member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Digital Assets.
Blumenthal also asks for all Cantor-Tether communications about compliance with banking and sanctions laws, the financial backing for Tether tokens, potential fundraising and the Lutnick family’s ownership interests. That request reaches beyond reserve custody. It covers what the firms said to each other about the controls surrounding the stablecoin and the financial interests around their partnership.
What changes for $USDT holders
The letter does not direct Tether or Cantor to freeze assets, change reserve management, suspend issuance or alter redemptions. A holder or protocol using $USDT therefore has no new transaction step in the document. The practical change is on the diligence side: reserve counterparties, audit requirements, sanctions controls and ownership ties are now named subjects of a Senate information request.
For issuers, exchanges and DeFi protocols, the questions identify records that may matter when assessing a stablecoin counterparty. These include who holds reserve assets, what independent verification is required, how the custodian monitors sanctions exposure, and when the custodian would end the relationship. The letter itself supplies none of Cantor’s answers, so it does not resolve those points.
Congress is considering digital-asset regulation, and Blumenthal says the Cantor partnership could provide insight into the industry’s inner workings. The next dated milestone is October 23, 2026. The open question is whether Cantor will provide the requested custody, audit, ownership and compliance records by that deadline, and what those records will show about its controls around Tether.
