Overview
- ZachXBT published the “Circle USDC Files” on Friday, alleging 15 cases since 2022 in which Circle did not freeze stolen funds, totaling more than $420 million.
- In the April 1 Drift Protocol hack, the attacker bridged about $232 million in USDC from Solana to Ethereum over more than 100 transfers through Circle’s CCTP without a freeze, which made recovery far harder.
- Circle says it acts only under court orders or law‑enforcement requests and argues that this approach protects due process and user rights.
- Other issuers like Tether have frozen stolen funds within hours in past hacks, which is fueling calls for clear rules or a legal safe harbor so stablecoin issuers can move faster in obvious thefts.
- Blockchain analytics firms linked the Drift attacker to North Korean‑affiliated hackers, a finding that raises the stakes for how quickly issuers and regulators coordinate on freezes.