#185 - When Circle must freeze USDC (and when they probably should) with Austin Campbell

#185 - When Circle must freeze USDC (and when they probably should) with Austin Campbell

From Law of Code by Jacob Robinson

April 13, 2026 · 43 min · Episode 185

About this episode

The episode discusses the legal obligations of Circle to freeze USDC in various scenarios, featuring insights from Austin Campbell.

When does U.S. law require Circle to freeze USDC? It's a question many are asking after a series of wallets were frozen in connection to a sealed civil case, and again after Solana's Drift Protocol was drained of $285 million. Jacob Robinson is joined by Austin Campbell, founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting and adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, for a masterclass on the legal framework governing stablecoin freezes. Timestamps: ➡️ 0:00 — Intro ➡️ 2:00 — The March 2026 freeze of 16 wallets tied to a sealed civil case ➡️ 4:31 — How bank freezes actually work ➡️ 7:27 — Circle's legal obligation to freeze ➡️ 9:40 — Does Circle's terms of service even apply to secondary holders? ➡️ 11:24 — The privity problem ➡️ 13:20 — The five-piece legal framework that functions like a safe harbor for institutions freezing assets ➡️ 16:43 — DeFi's second-order exposure to asset freezes ➡️ 18:29 — Can DeFi adapt? ➡️ 21:03 — Circle's response to the Drift exploit ➡️ 22:34 — DeFi and the legal system ➡️ 24:27 — Bitcoin as the ideologically consistent alternative ➡️ 28:18 — Why people want intermediaries with liability ➡️ 31:04 — The Drift exploit: why Circle should have frozen USDC ➡️ 36:34…

People in this episode

Host: Jacob Robinson

Guest: Austin Campbell

Topics covered

  • stablecoin
  • legal framework
  • asset freeze
  • DeFi
  • USDC
  • crypto law

Keywords

  • Circle
  • USDC
  • asset freeze
  • DeFi
  • legal obligations
  • crypto
  • stablecoin

Sponsors

Day One Law

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Zero Knowledge Consulting, Columbia Business School

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