Circle unfreezes one of 16 blacklisted USDC wallets following backlash: ZachXBT
Circle unfroze the USDC balance of one wallet linked to Goated.com after facing community backlash over freezing 16 wallets.Summary
Onchain investigator ZachXBT reported that Circle has unfrozen the USDC balance in one of the 16 hot wallets it had previously frozen. The unfrozen wallet, associated with Goated.com, currently holds over 130,000 USDC, and ZachXBT suggested other affected wallets might be restored soon.
The initial freezing of 16 unrelated business wallets drew significant criticism from the crypto community, highlighting concerns over stablecoin centralization. ZachXBT criticized the action as potentially the "single most incompetent freeze" he had seen, arguing that Circle provided no basis for freezing the addresses related to a sealed New York civil case.
Other industry figures, like MetaMask Security Researcher Taylor Monahan, also condemned the move, citing a lack of accountability. Circle has not publicly commented on the specific wallets or provided the legal justification for the initial freeze.
(Source：The Block)