Blumenthal puts Cantor's Tether stake at $10 billion in a records demand to Brandon Lutnick

Blumenthal's estimate of the stake is the largest number in the letter. He puts Cantor's holding at $10 billion, up from $600 million since Trump returned to office ^[15], a gain of roughly 17 times ^[20]. Cointelegraph describes the holding as rights to a 5% stake that Cantor acquired in 2024 ^[17]. If the percentage has not changed, $10 billion values all of Tether at about $200 billion ^[21], and the $600 million starting point values it at about $12 billion ^[22]. These are a senator's estimates. Neither Cantor nor Tether immediately responded to requests for comment ^[13].

The custody business is older and harder to price. Cantor began holding part of the Treasuries behind Tether's reserves in 2021 and reportedly custodies tens of billions of dollars of Tether's Treasury bills ^[4]. Neither report includes a custody fee. Blumenthal ties the income streams together. "Just as Tether has made untold millions in interest and investments from the stablecoins used in these illicit activities, so has Cantor Fitzgerald profited from its relationship with Tether," he wrote ^[5].

Custody also explains why the letter went to Cantor. "While Tether claims to operate out of El Salvador, the vast majority of its assets reside in the United States under your custodianship," Blumenthal wrote ^[6]. On his account, an issuer that says it is based abroad keeps most of its assets with a US firm, and that firm is now chaired by one of Howard Lutnick's sons, with the other as vice chairman ^[14].

For now the letter is a request. As a minority member Blumenthal has limited authority, and a Democratic majority next year could put him and his colleagues atop committees with subpoena power ^[18]. Kalshi gives Democrats a 61% chance of the Senate and Polymarket 64%, up from close to even several weeks ago ^[19]. Cantor's answers are due October 23 ^[10], before the vote.

If Democrats fall short, a chance the markets put at 36% to 39% ^[23], Blumenthal keeps only the power to ask ^[18]. If they win, his requests for Howard Lutnick's divestiture terms and any Tether financing of the ownership transfer to his children ^[7] become candidates for compulsion, along with Lutnick's communications about Tether after he left Cantor ^[8]. A third route runs through the Treasury and Justice Department, which Blumenthal has asked to investigate potential sanctions violations ^[11]. Tether says it has worked with law enforcement for years and has frozen nearly $550 million of Iran-linked USDT this year ^[12].

I think the custody contract is the least exposed part of this. The questions with money attached concern the family: more than $250 million to Howard Lutnick since Trump returned, including a $192 million Cantor distribution ^[16], so no more than about three quarters arrived as that single Cantor payout ^[24]. The counter-case sits in the letter itself, which asks whether Cantor has ever reviewed ending the partnership ^[9]. A custodian facing subpoenas over its sanctions safeguards could drop the custody line and keep a stake Blumenthal values at $10 billion ^[15]. Tether moving its reserves away from Cantor would prove me wrong.