Sen. Richard Blumenthal has asked Cantor Fitzgerald to provide records about its business relationship with Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, and the financial benefits that may have flowed to the family of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The request, sent to Cantor chairman Brandon Lutnick, gives the firm until Oct. 23 to respond. It is an information request rather than a subpoena, and the letter does not make a finding that Cantor Fitzgerald violated any law. Instead, it asks for documents covering the firm’s compliance controls, its dealings with Tether and the transfer of Howard Lutnick’s ownership interest in Cantor to his children.
According to Decrypt, Blumenthal made the request in his role as the senior Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The inquiry is framed around the alleged illicit use of cryptocurrency and possible self-enrichment or self-dealing involving the Trump administration and crypto companies.
Questions about Cantor’s Tether relationship
Cantor Fitzgerald serves as Tether’s custodian, safeguarding the reserves that Tether says support USDT in circulation. A stablecoin is a digital token designed to maintain a relatively stable value against an underlying asset; in USDT’s case, that reference is the U.S. dollar.
Blumenthal’s letter asks how Cantor checks whether Tether complies with U.S. sanctions and anti-money-laundering requirements. It also seeks information on the firm’s know-your-customer procedures, which are checks used to identify and assess clients, and whether Cantor has ever considered ending its relationship with Tether.
The senator is also seeking communications involving Howard Lutnick during his time at Cantor, including any discussions of Tether with the White House, federal or state regulators, and the President’s Council of Advisors on Digital Assets. The request asks for records of lobbying or other advocacy on Tether’s behalf.
Blumenthal argued that Cantor’s commercial relationship with Tether raises national-security concerns. His letter cited claims that Tether has earned substantial interest and investment income from assets backing stablecoins used in illicit activity, and that Cantor has also benefited from its connection with the issuer. These are allegations and estimates presented by the senator, based on press reports and previous staff work, rather than established findings in the letter.
Stakes, profits and a reported family loan
The letter says Cantor’s 5% interest in Tether increased in estimated value from $600 million to $10 billion after Donald Trump returned to office. It also says Cantor receives tens of millions of dollars annually from the assets it holds for Tether.
Blumenthal separately claims that Howard Lutnick has made more than $250 million over the same period, including a $192 million distribution from Cantor. Lutnick led Cantor until the Senate confirmed him as Commerce Secretary in February 2025. His son, Brandon Lutnick, now chairs the firm.
The senator wants the terms of any loan or legal arrangement that enabled Howard Lutnick to transfer ownership of his Cantor stake to his children. The request follows an earlier report of a loan from Tether to a trust benefiting Lutnick’s four children, made around the time they acquired their father’s interest in Cantor. The amount of that reported loan has not been disclosed.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden previously questioned Howard Lutnick and Tether about the reported transaction in April. Blumenthal’s request also asks for records explaining how the trust arrangement was structured. Moving assets into a trust can separate legal ownership from the people who benefit from or control the assets, depending on the structure.
Crypto sanctions concerns
The inquiry follows a report released 10 days earlier by the subcommittee’s Democratic staff, titled “Tethered to Terrorism.” It said that 84% of 846 cryptocurrency wallets sanctioned or targeted for seizure because of connections to Iran and its proxies used USDT exclusively or almost exclusively.
The report’s overall figure combines two different sources. It found that 87% of 757 wallets designated by Israel’s counter-terror finance bureau transacted mainly in USDT, compared with 57% of 101 wallets designated by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC.
Tether has the ability to freeze a wallet, preventing the tokens held there from being moved. On the same day the report was released, the company said it had frozen about $550 million linked to Iran this year, including $344 million in April and more than $130 million in July. Tether did not directly address the report’s findings in the statement described by Decrypt.
What happens next
Cantor Fitzgerald must respond by Oct. 23, according to the letter. Blumenthal also instructed the firm to preserve documents, records and communications connected to its Tether relationship while the request is pending.
The inquiry puts attention on the overlap between stablecoin infrastructure, financial compliance and the business interests of a senior administration official’s family. It does not, however, establish that Cantor Fitzgerald, Tether or the Lutnick family broke the law. Any conclusions will depend on the records supplied and on further action by the Senate subcommittee.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data at 11:44 a.m. on Oct. 11, 2026, showed Ethereum at $2,500.6288, up 0.18% over 24 hours but down 7.39% over seven days. Tether USDt was priced at $0.9990423 at 11:43 a.m., with a seven-day decline of 0.08% and no reported 24-hour percentage change.
Ethena was trading at $0.2224045, up 0.92% in 24 hours and down 6.28% over seven days. OpenLedger stood at $0.1096912, down 0.5% over 24 hours and 9.47% over seven days.
