A U.S. bankruptcy court in New York has mandated Circle to freeze millions in USDC associated with the Multichain hack. The court's order targets three wallets suspected of holding funds from the $210 million exploit that occurred in July 2023. This legal action marks a significant step in integrating traditional legal frameworks into the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, setting a precedent for asset recovery in cryptocurrency. Initially, the U.S. Department of Justice had pursued a similar freeze but withdrew to prevent alerting the hackers, highlighting the delicate balance between asset protection and ongoing investigations.