Circle Internet (NASDAQ:CRCL) CEO Jeremy Allaire said the company only freezes USDC wallets when law enforcement or courts direct it to do so, as shares surged 9%.

The Court-Order-Only Policy

Speaking at a press conference in Seoul, Allaire explained that USDC operates as a regulated financial product, not a tool for real-time intervention during hacks.

“Circle follows the rule of law, and we are able to undertake actions such as freezing a wallet at the direction of law enforcement or the courts,” Allaire said.

He positioned USDC as part of the traditional financial system, subject to legal process. The company won’t make freeze decisions on its own during an exploit—it waits for formal requests from authorities.

How Tether Does It Differently

Rival Tether, which issues the world’s largest stablecoin (CRYPTO: USDT), takes a more aggressive approach. 

The company has repeatedly frozen funds linked to hacks within hours. 

In several cases involving Ledger and Remitano exploits, Tether blacklisted stolen funds while equivalent USDC remained untouched, according to blockchain sleuth ZachXBT.

The $420 Million Criticism

ZachXBT has become the loudest critic. He claims Circle’s slow approach across more than a dozen cases since 2022 has let over $420 million in stolen funds escape. 

He pointed to exploits affecting Cetus, SwapNet, and Nomad where stolen USDC sat in identifiable wallets for hours or days without action.

Earlier this month, Drift Protocol lost up to $280 million in a suspected North Korea-linked hack. Roughly $230 million in USDC moved across chains over several hours. Critics say Circle had the technical ability to freeze the funds but chose not to.

The DeFi Trade-Off

Some industry experts defend Circle’s approach. Omid Malekan, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, argues that allowing stablecoin issuers to freeze funds without legal backing would undermine decentralized finance.

“If Circle and other stablecoin issuers implement arbitrary freeze or seize functions beyond what the law requires, then not only is code not law, but also law is not law,” Malekan wrote on X. 

“Instead what a single executive inside a single corporation decides is law,” he added.

Malekan warns this would introduce centralized control points that erode trust in DeFi systems.

CRCL Stock Breakout

Circle is surging 9% after bottoming near $55-$60 in February. Price now tests the critical $80-$100 zone that has defined this stock multiple times.

The SAR at $99.36 sits just overhead. Breaking above it would flip the daily signal bullish for the first time in months. 

The descending trendline from the $300 August peak still acts as macro resistance.

Support sits at $86-$88, then $80. Resistance clusters at $99.36 (SAR), then $120, then $160.

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