Circle Under Fire Over Drift Hack Response. Stablecoin issuer Circle faced criticism for not moving quickly enough to freeze $232 million in stolen USDC during the Drift protocol hack. Attackers exploited Circle's cross-chain transfer protocol to move funds from Solana to Ethereum. Blockchain investigators argued Circle could have acted faster to limit losses. However, Circle maintained that it only freezes assets when legally required through court orders or law enforcement requests, citing regulatory compliance and user protection. The company stated it adheres to sanctions and legal mandates while maintaining strong privacy protections. Drift, a major Solana-based perpetual futures exchange, disclosed the sophisticated attack involved unauthorized access to its Security Council and compromise of multiple multisig signers through social engineering.
