Zama accelerates compliance after court lifts $12.5M USDC freeze
Zama said it will move ahead with its confidential USDC launch after a US court lifted a temporary freeze on about $12.5 million USDC held in its cUSDC smart contract. The freeze came from a restraining order tied to a separate dispute involving Overnight Finance, and Circle complied by freezing the funds even though Zama was not a party to the case. Zama said the court later ruled the freeze unwarranted and restored normal operation. The incident underscores a risk for protocols using centralized stablecoins: issuers can freeze pooled assets under court order, potentially affecting uninvolved users. Zama argued the disputed address could have been frozen directly without locking the whole contract. In response, Zama said it will accelerate compliance features, including automatic enforcement of issuer freezes, a compliance council, and more monitoring tools. It still plans to launch cUSDC later this month and shield $5 million of USDC from its treasury.
