Blumenthal presses Cantor Fitzgerald over its Tether ties

Key points

• Blumenthal sent a letter Oct. 8 to Cantor Fitzgerald's Brandon Lutnick about Tether ties
• Letter seeks sanctions, compliance and Lutnick divestiture details by Oct. 23
• Cantor holds Tether reserves and reportedly has rights to a 5% stake
• Neither Cantor nor Tether immediately commented

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter on Thursday to Cantor Fitzgerald leader Brandon Lutnick asking about the firm’s relationship with stablecoin issuer Tether, according to CoinDesk. The letter asks for a response by Oct. 23, Cointelegraph reported.

What the letter asks Cantor to explain

Brandon Lutnick is the son of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who handed him the firm’s leadership when he joined the Trump administration, CoinDesk reported. Cantor holds and manages Tether’s U.S. reserves, and the two companies share other business interests. Blumenthal argues both have profited from the arrangement.

According to the outlets’ accounts, the letter asks Cantor to describe:

• its banking and sanctions safeguards, and the steps it has taken to investigate allegations that Tether’s stablecoin was used for illicit finance, including Iran’s shadow banking network and Russian sanctions evasion;
• how it monitors Tether’s compliance under banking and sanctions laws;
• communications involving Howard Lutnick about Tether, including after he left Cantor;
• the terms of his divestiture and any loans or financing Tether gave his family for the ownership transfer;
• whether Cantor requires independent audits of Tether and has considered ending the partnership.

CoinDesk also said the letter raises the fact that most of Tether’s assets are located in the United States, even though Tether says it operates from El Salvador.

Financial claims and the Iran focus

Cointelegraph reported that Cantor acquired rights to a 5% stake in Tether in 2024 and reportedly custodies tens of billions of dollars of Tether’s U.S. Treasury bill reserves. Blumenthal alleges the value of that stake rose from an estimated $600 million to $10 billion since President Donald Trump returned to office, and that Howard Lutnick received more than $250 million in that period, including a $192 million distribution from Cantor. Those figures are Blumenthal’s allegations as relayed by Cointelegraph.

Cointelegraph said Cantor’s relationship with Tether began in 2021, when it became a custodian for part of the Treasuries backing Tether’s reserves. Howard Lutnick, then Cantor’s chairman and chief executive, helped negotiate the April 2024 investment. He stepped down after the Senate confirmed him as Commerce Secretary in February 2025.

Blumenthal wrote that the arrangements come “at the expense of America’s national security,” according to Cointelegraph, and he called on the Treasury and Justice departments to investigate potential sanctions violations. He has been examining Tether’s role in Iran’s financial system, citing a Sept. 28 report on Iran’s shadow banking network, per CoinDesk. Cointelegraph said Tether has stated it has worked with law enforcement for years and has frozen nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT this year.

Neither Cantor nor Tether immediately responded to requests for comment from either outlet.

Why the political backdrop matters

Blumenthal and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have had limited power as minority-party members, CoinDesk noted. A Democratic Senate majority could give committees subpoena power. As of publication, CoinDesk said, the prediction market Kalshi put Democrats’ chance of winning the Senate at 61% and Polymarket at 64%. Both markets put the chance of a House majority shift above 90%.

The Oct. 23 deadline is the next date to watch. A letter from a minority-party senator carries no legal compulsion, so any reply would be voluntary unless the balance of power in the Senate changes.