"ZachXBT flagged the April 1, 2026, Drift Protocol exploit, attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group, where attackers bridged over 232 million USDC using Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol without any freeze action from Circle."
"In the Swapnet exploit from January 25, 2026, $16 million was stolen, with 3 million USDC accessible for two days while Circle denied temporary freeze requests from law enforcement and private investigators."
"The Cetus Protocol hack on May 22, 2025, resulted in $223 million being taken, with Circle blacklisting the funds a month later after they had already been converted to Ether."
ZachXBT highlighted 15 significant cases where Circle did not freeze illicit USDC flows totaling over $420 million since 2022. Notable incidents include the Drift Protocol exploit, where 232 million USDC was bridged without a freeze during U.S. business hours. Other cases involved the Swapnet exploit, where $16 million was stolen, and the Cetus Protocol hack, resulting in $223 million taken. Circle's delayed actions and failures to freeze funds raised concerns about their response to theft and fraud involving USDC.
Read at news.bitcoin.com
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