Circle froze about $823 million in USDC linked to the record Binance hack, Decrypt reported, while CEO Jeremy Allaire said on X the company had frozen more than $800 million. Decrypt said Allaire described coordination with law enforcement, and that the FBI confirmed it was aware of the incident. The Secret Service did not comment. Tether separately froze more than $1.56 billion in USDT, CoinDesk reported, citing CEO Paolo Ardoino.
The speed of the action has drawn scrutiny. CoinDesk quoted Anton Golub of Forte, who supports freezing stolen crypto but said that when smaller players are hacked, “we hear about court orders and legal restrictions.” CoinDesk noted that Circle drew criticism in April for not freezing USDC during the roughly $290 million Drift hack, after Allaire had said Circle only freezes when directed by law enforcement or a court. Frank Hepworth of New Market Trading called the Binance freeze a business decision, while Stefan Muehlbauer of CertiK argued clearer legal standards could help smaller victims.
Lawyers cautioned that a freeze is not recovery. Irina Heaver of NEOSLegal said it stops movement but does not return funds, and ownership and a legal basis must still be established. Alexander Shirtcliff of Edwin Coe said recovery could need court orders across several jurisdictions. CoinDesk added that stolen bitcoin, about $1.4 billion split across 19 wallets, cannot be frozen at the network level. Tether and Circle had not responded to its questions.
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Sources:
CoinDesk: Crypto experts question double standard after issuers freeze billions in Binance hack
Decrypt: Secret Service, FBI Join Binance Hack Probe as Circle Freezes $823 Million
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