New York judge keeps Multichain's USDC frozen after attack.

• Court upholds freeze on Multichain's USDC wallets.
• Liquidators seek to recover US$63 million in USDC.
• Measure supports provisional guardianship and Chapter 15 in the US.

A New York bankruptcy court granted relief to the liquidators of Multichain Foundation Ltd., ordering Circle to keep frozen the wallets linked to the USDC theft in the 2023 attack. The decision preserves assets that, according to the administrators of the process in Singapore, are part of a package of assets to be recovered, including approximately US$63 million in USDC.

The order, signed by Judge David S. Jones, extends the blocking of three hacker addresses "until further notice," preventing transfers and movements while the case continues. In practice, Circle applies the freeze through the blacklist integrated into the USDC smart contract, which automatically blocks transactions to or from the marked wallets.

The July 2023 attack drained approximately US$210 million from Multichain's cross-chain bridge protocol, affecting various crypto assets. Following the incident, the company entered liquidation in Singapore, and liquidators initiated coordinated measures to recover funds, with an emphasis on the dollar-pegged stablecoin amount.

In the United States, administrators filed for an interim injunction on October 23 to extend the freeze on digital wallets.

"Provisional relief is an 'effective mechanism' for implementing Chapter 15 policies promoting cooperation between United States courts and foreign courts involved in cross-border restructuring cases."

says the document.

Initially, the U.S. Department of Justice had obtained a search warrant, which led Circle to freeze the addresses shortly after the hack. Later, the agency announced that it would revoke the warrant, as it had not been able to identify the perpetrators of the attack with sufficient precision to proceed with criminal action.

Without this basis, the USDC issuer highlighted the limitations of maintaining addresses on a blacklist indefinitely. "Without a valid search warrant or court order, Circle would have no basis to maintain the hackers' addresses on the blacklist," the document noted, explaining the need for redress.

Meanwhile, investors in the US filed a class-action lawsuit to ensure the continued freezing of these same wallets. According to the order, the plaintiffs and Circle reached an agreement to keep the accounts frozen, which supports asset recovery and strengthens protection for affected USDC holders.