Speaking in Seoul, Jeremy Allaire gave his clearest defense yet of Circle's hands-off approach: USDC is a regulated financial product, and freeze decisions must follow court orders or law enforcement requests — not public pressure during an exploit. Critics, including blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, say the policy has allowed over $420 million in illicit funds to escape since 2022, pointing to the recent $285M Drift Protocol hack in which stolen USDC was bridged across chains over six hours while Circle waited for legal authorization. Rival Tether, by contrast, has blacklisted stolen funds within hours in similar situations.
Combined spot and derivatives trading on centralized exchanges fell 6.53% in March to $5.26T — the lowest level since October 2024 — as geopolitical tensions drove capital toward commodities. Gold ranked as the fifth-largest futures asset with $55.6B traded. Gate made history, overtaking Bybit to claim third place in centralized derivatives for the first time, reaching a 12.0% market share despite a volume decline.
The Senate returns from recess today with the CLARITY Act back on the agenda and a late-April Banking Committee markup in the crosshairs. Patrick Witt, speaking at the Solana Summit in New York, said stablecoin yield negotiations are making progress and that talks are now clearing the bill's remaining sticking points. Senator Hagerty has said he expects the bill out of committee this month — but the window is narrow, and failure to advance before May could push digital asset legislation past the midterms.
