Circle freezes $12.6M of USDC linked to privacy protocol Zama

The $12.6 million in USDC was likely frozen in connection with an ongoing but unrelated civil court case, according to onchain sleuth ZachXBT.

Stablecoin issuer Circle on Saturday froze $12.6 million in USDC dollar-pegged tokens linked to privacy protocol Zama’s confidential USDC smart contract, according to onchain sleuth ZachXBT.

The smart contract is “publicly labeled” on block explorers and the privacy protocol’s technical documentation, ZachXBT said. 

The exact reason for the freeze is “unclear,” he said, adding that wallets linked to the Overnight Finance decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol deposited $12.4 million into the Zama protocol on May 11, 2026. He said:

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