{"id":80482,"date":"2026-04-11T07:01:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T07:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=80482"},"modified":"2026-04-11T07:01:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T07:01:36","slug":"public-backlash-prompts-circle-response-to-270m-drift-protocol-theft-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=80482","title":{"rendered":"Public Backlash Prompts Circle Response To $270M Drift Protocol Theft: Details"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Circle (CRCL) has responded publicly to mounting criticism tied to the exploit of Solana\u2019s Drift Protocol, an attack that reports say siphoned roughly $270\u2013$285 million from the decentralized venue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amid backlash circulating on social media, critics allege that the USDC issuer failed to stop the stolen funds, even though the stablecoin has mechanisms\u2014such as freezing and blacklisting\u2014that can be used to disrupt illicit transfers.<\/p>\n

Circle Explains USDC Freezing Process\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The timeline behind the accusations centers on April 1, 2026, when Drift Protocol was drained of about $285 million, with the exploit reportedly representing more than half of the protocol\u2019s total value locked <\/a>(TVL).\u00a0<\/p>\n

A substantial portion of the stolen assets, according to reporting surrounding the incident, was converted and routed through USDC via Circle\u2019s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP).<\/p>\n

Circle did not immediately respond to the online criticism. After weeks of silence, the company published an official blog post<\/a> authored by Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte, addressing the dispute over freezing and compliance actions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Disparte said Circle\u2019s ability to freeze USDC is not discretionary in the way critics sometimes frame it, arguing instead that freezing is something Circle does only when the law compels action.<\/p>\n

The firm\u2019s executive wrote that \u201cwhen Circle freezes USDC,\u201d it is not because the company has decided unilaterally to remove assets from a specific party. Rather, he said the firm freezes because \u201cthe law requires us to act.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Disparte further linked the freezing debate to a broader regulatory goal<\/a>, saying Circle is working with policymakers in the US and internationally to develop \u201csafe harbor\u201d frameworks and to modernize regulations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The aim, he wrote, is to create legal structures that allow issuers, exchanges, and other ecosystem participants to respond more decisively to illicit activity\u2014faster, but without opening new pathways for abuse that could undermine open financial systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ZachXBT Calls Out Freezing Explanation<\/h2>\n

Despite the firm\u2019s defense, critics have continued to challenge the company\u2019s position. One of the responses came from on-chain sleuth ZachXBT, who posted \u201cThe Circle USDC Files\u201d last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In that report<\/a>, ZachXBT alleged more than $420 million in compliance failures. He now addressed the blog statement, claiming <\/a>Circle\u2019s actions resulted in 240 million directly funding North Korea across multiple hacks\u2014while arguing that Circle had hours to act in clear-cut cases involving illicit transfers.<\/p>\n

ZachXBT\u2019s criticism attacked the apparent mismatch between the firm\u2019s stated freeze framework and what he described as operational delays or choices not to use available tools quickly enough. He questioned Circle\u2019s compliance record explicitly, asking, \u201cHow is that compliance for USDC?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, ZachXBT argued that Circle\u2019s blog post \u201ccontradicts itself\u201d and attributed the controversy to a leadership problem, rather than a purely legal or procedural constraint.<\/p>\n

\"Circle\"<\/p>\n

As of this writing, the firm\u2019s stock (CRCL) was trading at $88.78, up 4% in Friday\u2019s trading session.<\/p>\n

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Circle (CRCL) has responded publicly to mounting criticism tied to the exploit of Solana\u2019s Drift Protocol, an attack that reports say siphoned roughly $270\u2013$285 million from the decentralized venue.\u00a0 Amid backlash circulating on social media, critics allege that the USDC issuer failed to stop the stolen funds, even though the stablecoin has mechanisms\u2014such as freezing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-80482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}