Overview
- Circle, which issued a statement Friday, said it freezes USDC only when a lawful order directs it to act.
- The company’s response followed the April 1 Drift Protocol exploit that drained about $270–$285 million and moved roughly $230 million in USDC to Ethereum.
- Analysts argued there was a roughly six-hour window to blacklist the funds in transit, raising questions about how fast issuers can respond to live attacks.
- Circle urged Congress to pass the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts to set clear reserve rules for stablecoins and define when issuers can or must freeze or claw back funds.
- It also asked DeFi teams to add on-chain circuit breakers, which are code switches that pause trading or withdrawals when activity looks abnormal.