As reported by CryptoSlate, Circle is facing scrutiny from blockchain researchers after more than $230 million in stolen USDC was bridged from Solana to Ethereum via Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) across more than 100 transactions during the April 1 exploit of Solana-based Drift Protocol, the largest DeFi hack of 2026 at $285 million.
On-chain investigator ZachXBT said the transfers occurred over several hours during US business hours, with stolen funds held across multiple wallets for one to three hours before bridging, providing Circle time to intervene. Critics have contrasted the inaction with Circle's March 23 freeze of USDC balances across 16 unrelated corporate hot wallets tied to a civil dispute, which ZachXBT described as "potentially the single most incompetent" freeze he had witnessed in five years.
Circle has to date blacklisted approximately $117 million across 601 wallets, according to Dune Analytics. One dissenting voice, pseudonymous Lucidity Cap CIO Santisa, argued Circle's non-intervention was consistent with decentralization principles.