Circle Accused of Defying Court Order on Crypto Recovery

Prosecutors in Wisconsin and New York have accused Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, of resisting court orders to recover cryptocurrency stolen through scams.

The dispute centers on a Wisconsin fraud case where Circle froze approximately 381,000 USDC tokens but refused to invalidate them or issue replacements to law enforcement as directed by a court order.

Circle has denied wrongdoing, arguing that it lacks the technical ability to comply with the order and that prosecutors should have pursued alternative solutions.