Catenaa, Thursday, November 06, 2025-A New York bankruptcy court has ordered stablecoin issuer Circle to maintain a freeze on three Ethereum wallets holding roughly $63 million in stolen USD Coin (USDC), as part of efforts to recover assets from the collapsed Multichain Foundation Ltd.
Judge David S. Jones of the Southern District of New York issued the provisional relief under Section 1519 of the US Bankruptcy Code, allowing temporary measures before formally recognizing the Singapore-based liquidation under Chapter 15.
The freeze prevents any transfer of stolen funds while legal recognition and cross-border recovery efforts continue.
The Multichain hack in July 2023 saw attackers drain more than $125 million from the protocol’s cross-chain bridges on Fantom, Moonriver, and Dogechain.
The incident left Multichain, formerly known as Anyswap, in disarray, with CEO Zhaojun detained in China. KPMG-appointed liquidators in Singapore have been coordinating recovery actions across jurisdictions.
Circle initially froze the hacker-linked wallets in October 2023 at the DOJ’s direction, but the federal seizure warrant was later lifted.
The court’s latest order restores the legal authority to keep the funds locked. US investors pursuing a class-action claim against Circle must now pause their efforts pending further proceedings.
The freeze represents part of a broader $210 million stolen in one of 2023’s largest decentralized finance exploits.
The New York ruling underscores ongoing international coordination in recovering digital assets and highlights the legal complexities surrounding cross-border DeFi fraud.
