Salman Abbas

Circle's Chief Strategy Officer, Dante Disparte, has addressed the April 1 incident involving the theft of over $270 million from Drift Protocol. According to Foresight News, Disparte clarified that Circle only freezes USDC when legally compelled, emphasizing that this is not a unilateral decision. He explained that the mechanism is part of a framework designed to protect holders from arbitrary interference. Disparte highlighted the challenge faced by open systems, where legal frameworks lag behind technological advancements. He stressed that protocols, wallets, exchanges, and stablecoin issuers should view security and accountability as shared responsibilities. Disparte suggested that DeFi protocols could develop on-chain protective measures inspired by traditional market circuit breakers. He also urged that the legislative process for the U.S. GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act should incorporate standards for due process, property rights, and financial privacy protection before the next major security incident occurs.

Techub News reported that, according to Business Wire, the American law firm Gibbs Mura has announced a class action investigation into the security breach incident involving Drift Protocol that occurred on April 1, calling on Drift investors to contact the firm for loss recovery. In this incident, hackers stole approximately $280 million to $285 million of investors' funds and transferred assets via Circle's cross-chain transfer protocol. Gibbs Mura is reviewing potential claims by investors against Circle Internet Financial, alleging that Circle, despite having the technical capability and operational precedent, failed to intervene to freeze the stolen funds. The firm stated that investors would not bear any financial risk, as the firm would only deduct attorney fees and costs from the compensation after winning the case and obtaining damages. Nine days prior, Circle had frozen 16 unrelated commercial wallets in a civil case.