Circle unfreezes one of the 16 USDC wallets listed on the blacklist

According to The Block, "on-chain detective" ZachXBT revealed that Circle has unfrozen one of the 16 USDC wallets that were previously blacklisted. The wallet address is 0x61f...e543, associated with Goated.com, and currently holds approximately 130,966 USDC. ZachXBT stated that the remaining affected wallets are expected to be restored in the near future.

This unfreezing occurred after strong criticism from the public. Earlier reports indicated that Circle had frozen the USDC balances in 16 hot wallets related to different businesses, and ZachXBT claimed that this action was related to an undisclosed civil case in the United States, which is under confidentiality.

ZachXBT harshly criticized this freezing action, stating that the parties involved did not provide any basis for the freeze and described it as one of the most incompetent freezing operations he has seen in his five years of work. MetaMask security researcher Taylor Monahan also criticized Circle on social media for lacking accountability mechanisms. Currently, Circle has not issued a public statement regarding the specific wallet or the legal basis for the freeze.