Tether, or, the Dollar that Epstein built

Howard Lutnick doubled his net worth advancing the company at the center of my “The New US Dollar: The One Epstein Built” series. Tether.

His firm Cantor Fitzgerald has held Tether’s cash reserves since 2021. $192 billion of them to be exact, collecting tens of millions a year… pic.twitter.com/DPBlsmWgbD

— theleahfiles (@leahfiles) September 15, 2026

Howard Lutnick doubled his net worth advancing the company at the center of my “The New US Dollar: The One Epstein Built” series. Tether.

His firm Cantor Fitzgerald has held Tether’s cash reserves since 2021. $192 billion of them to be exact, collecting tens of millions a year in fees. In 2023 Cantor took a 5% stake in Tether itself worth $600 million.

At his confirmation hearing in February 2025 he sat in front of Congress and personally vouched for Tether’s reserves being real. He had not sold his stake yet. He was defending the company his own firm profits from under oath and Tether is the most corrupt company I’ve investigated to date.

Lutnick got confirmed and joined the White House working group on digital assets. He helped shape the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law that will force Tether to buy $2 trillion in Treasuries by 2030. That law is worth billions to Tether….and to anyone who owns a piece of it.

In October 2025 he finally divested and transferred Cantor to trusts for his four children. The sale closed October 6.

On October 7, one day later, a credit document was filed in New York. Tether had lent money to the trust holding his children’s stake. The loan is secured by more than half the equity in Cantor Fitzgerald. Nobody will say how much it was for, even though Senators have asked.

The company whose future depends on Lutnick’s rules financed the deal that was supposed to end Lutnick’s conflict….okay.

Then in April 2025, while he was still a sitting Cabinet secretary and still held his Cantor interest by the White House’s own records, his son Brandon launched Twenty One Capital, a $3.6 billion bitcoin venture.

Tether and Bitfinex hold the majority and Cantor made millions on fees off both sides of the deal.

On April 15, 2026, Cantor gave $10 million to a super PAC run by the head of government affairs for Tether’s US operations.

Two weeks later Senators Warren and Wyden sent letters asking whether the Tether loan paid for the divestiture and whether Lutnick agreed to use his office to benefit Tether in return. Deadline was May 13.

Nothing has been made public.

So here is how the Commerce Secretary doubled his net worth.

His firm holds Tether’s money
His firm owns a piece of Tether
He vouched for Tether under oath
He helped write Tether’s law
He divested to his children
Tether financed the divestiture
His son launched a $3.6 billion company with Tether’s money through his firm
Cantor donated to Tether’s PAC
And the stake went from $1.7 billion to $5.4 billion

I have been investigating Tether for months. Co-founded by Jeffrey Epstein’s crypto advisor. Never been audited. $4.4 billion frozen on law enforcement requests with no warrant. Incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. Moved to El Salvador. Ownership hidden. Every major co-investor has documented ties to the Epstein network and looks to be poised as the new digital dollar for the US building a financial surveillance state.

Howard Lutnick is the worst of the worst.