New York judge grants relief to Multichain liquidators, extending freeze on stolen USDC

A New York bankruptcy court, under Judge David S. Jones, granted provisional relief to the liquidators of the Singapore-based Multichain Foundation Ltd., directing Circle to keep three specific hacker-controlled wallets blacklisted, thus freezing millions of stolen USDC. This action was necessary because the U.S. Department of Justice, which previously compelled the freeze via a seizure warrant, intended to lift that warrant since the hackers could not be identified. Multichain suffered a $210 million exploit in July 2023, and liquidators are attempting to recover assets, including $63 million in USDC. The provisional relief serves as an "effective mechanism" to uphold cooperation between U.S. and foreign courts during cross-border insolvency proceedings. Separately, a class action lawsuit filed by U.S. investors against Circle regarding the same stolen USDC has resulted in a stipulation requiring the wallets to remain frozen.

(Source：The Block)