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Zama protocol founder Rand posted on the X platform that, with the assistance of on-chain detective ZachXBT, the root cause of the cUSDC contract freeze has been identified. This freeze was caused by a court-issued injunction against addresses related to the Overnight Finance hacker, which had deposited approximately $12.5 million USDC into the cUSDC contract, accounting for over 99% of the funds within the contract, leading to the entire contract being frozen.Rand emphasized that this freeze is unrelated to the protocol itself or privacy technology, and it is not a sanction against Zama, but rather a typical DeFi judicial restriction scenario. The project adheres to compliance and privacy principles, not confusing the parties involved in transactions, only hiding balances and amounts. Currently, Zama is communicating with multiple parties to advance a resolution, has suspended the cUSDC, cUSDT, and cWETH contracts, and will restore them after completing the investigation and handling of the involved addresses, and will release a detailed review report as soon as possible.

Zama's official response to Circle's freezing of the cUSDC contract event states that Circle's compliance system flagged a wallet belonging to an external depositor. Since this wallet holds funds in the cUSDC contract, the entire contract was automatically swept into a standard holding freeze. This is merely incidental damage and not a sanction against the Zama Protocol. The Zama legal team has intervened and is isolating the flagged address, and will restore access for all unaffected participants as soon as possible.

"On-chain detective" ZachXBT posted that the stablecoin issuer Circle blacklisted the privacy protocol Zama's Confidential USDC (cUSDC) contract on Ethereum about 7 hours ago, resulting in approximately 12.6 million USDC being frozen within the contract.ZachXBT stated that the cUSDC contract has been publicly labeled in both Zama's official documentation and blockchain explorers. The specific reason for Circle freezing the related USDC is currently unclear. ZachXBT also pointed out that it had disclosed in March 2026 that Circle froze over 16 hot wallet addresses belonging to enterprises, protocols, and service providers without providing transparent explanations.

Data shows that the implied volatility of Bitcoin has dropped to 36%, reaching a nearly 8-month low, indicating that the market expects BTC to continue fluctuating in the short term. The decline in volatility itself does not represent the direction of the market, but current derivatives market data suggests that shorts may have become overly concentrated. If BTC breaks through $82,000, it could trigger a large-scale short squeeze.CoinGlass liquidation heatmap shows that a large number of BTC short positions are concentrated in the $78,000--$83,000 range. Meanwhile, BTC has failed to regain the $90,000 level for nearly 4 months, and some shorts have begun to establish stronger bearish expectations. In addition, Glassnode data shows that the 30-day options Delta Skew for BTC currently remains at 14%, indicating a significant premium for put options compared to call options, reflecting that professional traders are still more concerned about the downside risk of BTC.The current expectation for BTC to pull back to $72,000 has been partially priced in by the market, but if BTC breaks through $82,000 with increased volume, it could trigger a more intense leveraged short covering rally.

The U.S. government, through the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has initiated a multi-agency coordinated financial action aimed at systematically targeting Iran's domestic digital asset infrastructure, with the goal of dismantling Tehran's parallel shadow banking system. According to officially disclosed information, this operation has successfully identified and incapacitated a large interconnected digital wallet network directly controlled by the Iranian regime, and has immediately frozen nearly $500 million in sovereign-related crypto assets.The U.S. intends to disrupt Iran's ability to bypass long-standing Western trade embargoes by blocking these alternative capital channels, cutting off its resources to regional proxy networks, and systematically weakening the regime's ability to transfer or repatriate wealth outside the oversight of traditional global clearing institutions. The focus of this enforcement action is to systematically identify state-sponsored large cryptocurrency trading portals, which have quietly evolved into core nodes for evading sanctions.Federal intelligence reports indicate that these regional platforms have processed billions of dollars in high-frequency digital asset transactions, heavily relying on mainstream stablecoins and high-throughput alternative blockchain networks to obscure their illegal settlement flows. Under the newly implemented executive directive, the Treasury is actively blacklisting specific crypto addresses, tracking mining pool variables, and imposing sanctions on foreign technology providers that facilitate these state-supported networks.Additionally, the U.S. is leveraging its dominant position in international banking to compel foreign financial intermediaries to fully comply with its aggressive crypto asset control protocols. The Treasury has issued stern warnings to international technology centers that any platform providing clearing services or liquidity assistance to designated Iranian digital entities will face immediate risks of exclusion from the U.S. financial system.This comprehensive containment model shifts regulatory responsibility to global exchanges, forcing them to deploy advanced real-time blockchain analysis tools to programmatically identify and block any inbound transactions originating from Iranian internet protocol or historical wallet clusters. By installing these stringent crypto safeguards at the level of global gateways, the U.S. government is transforming permissionless distributed ledgers into highly controlled economic zones, ensuring that alternative payment infrastructures cannot be used to undermine broader Western geopolitical security objectives in the next decade.

According to a post by Santiment on social media, a large number of traders have bet on the decline of HYPE in the past few days, and significant negative spikes in funding rate data have appeared across trading platforms. However, the price of HYPE continues to rise, forming a classic short squeeze that forces bearish traders to automatically buy back their positions, further driving up the price. Currently, the total value of HYPE's open contracts remains at a very high level of over $1.92 billion.Although the market generally believes that liquidations will lead to the collapse of open contracts, HYPE remains one of the hottest assets in the crypto market, with new traders continuously entering, keeping the open contracts at a high level.The main catalyst for this round of increase is the growing enthusiasm for Hyperliquid-related ETF products. In May 2026, companies like Bitwise and 21Shares launched HYPE-linked ETFs, providing traditional investors with a channel to gain exposure to the asset without the need to directly use crypto wallets or decentralized exchanges. Market analysis suggests that the launch of these ETFs marks Hyperliquid's transition from a niche DeFi platform to an institutionally recognized crypto ecosystem.

According to Jinshi, citing Iranian media Fars News, the United States has made the unfreezing of up to 25% of Iran's frozen assets a condition, and also demands that Iran must hand over 400 kilograms of enriched uranium. Sources say that the United States has set conditions in its response to Iran, requiring Iran to operate only one nuclear facility, and the United States has made it clear that it will not pay any compensation to Iran.

According to The Block, the T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU), jointly established by Tether, TRON, and TRM Labs, announced that since its establishment in 2024, it has frozen over $450 million in illegal crypto assets globally.The unit intercepted illegal proceeds in 2025, with a year-on-year increase of 43.9%, covering 23 jurisdictions including the United States, Spain, and Germany, and was recognized by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as "an important resource for global law enforcement agencies."T3 FCU has participated in various criminal investigations, including exchange hacks, North Korea-related activities, terrorist financing, and violent crime cases, and assisted the Brazilian Federal Police in freezing over $5.989 billion in assets, including 4.3 million USDT.

U.S. Judge Margaret M. Garnett in New York postponed the ruling on Aave's emergency application on Wednesday, which aims to unfreeze $71 million in ETH related to the Kelp DAO hacking incident, and requested both parties to submit supplemental briefs before the hearing on June 5. Aave is attempting to reclaim the $71 million in ETH frozen on Arbitrum to assist in the asset recovery efforts from this hacking incident—Kelp DAO suffered losses of up to $293 million from the hack, making it one of the most severe security incidents in the DeFi space this year.However, the U.S. law firm Gerstein Harrow LLP submitted a restraining order to the court in early May, claiming that its client has rights to the aforementioned funds. Aave then filed an emergency motion to lift the freeze, warning that if the funds are not released in a timely manner, it could lead to user liquidations and potentially impact the entire DeFi market. Judge Garnett noted in her ruling that Aave failed to adequately explain how user funds would incur "compound losses" if the restraining order remained in place. She also acknowledged the complexity of the case, the risks faced by the victims, and requested both parties to provide supplemental statements on six key issues, including: whether the hacking transaction is subject to New York state sanctuary principles, the legal distinctions between fraud and theft and what rights the hacker has over the stolen assets, which laws apply to determine the priority of claims for frozen assets, whether constructive trusts are an appropriate remedy, and whether Aave or Arbitrum can identify individual victims and proportionally return assets. Both parties must submit supplemental briefs by May 22.Meanwhile, the overall compensation work for Kelp DAO is progressing. Kelp and Aave announced on Tuesday that the rsETH held by the hacker has been destroyed on Arbitrum, and approximately $278 million in loss tokens will be restored within the next two weeks through the funds of the Aave Recovery Guardian multi-signature wallet. Once the relevant smart contracts are reactivated, all functions of rsETH will return to normal.

On May 5, the Hong Kong High Court approved the application of the Department of Justice to issue an injunction against 42 individuals and companies, including Chen Zhi, the founder of the Prince Group, who are suspected of operating a scam park in Cambodia, freezing a total of HKD 8.938 billion in assets. The frozen assets include deposits in bank and securities accounts, stocks, and properties. Among them, Chen Zhi's personal assets in Hong Kong exceed HKD 6.36 billion. Zhou Yun, who assists in managing his assets, has total assets exceeding HKD 2 billion, and her personal accounts hold the equivalent of HKD 15.92 million in Hong Kong dollars, euros, and Bitcoin. In addition, related personnel from the Prince Group, Hu Xiaowei and Li Tian, have approximately HKD 400 million and HKD 172 million in assets frozen, respectively. The court will reconvene on August 3 to decide whether to extend the injunction.

According to FinanceFeeds, the victim's lawyer from North Korea attempted to redefine the rsETH attack incident that occurred on Aave as "fraud" rather than "theft" before a hearing at the Manhattan federal court, in order to maintain a freeze order on assets worth $71 million in ETH.The lawyer argued that the attacker borrowed assets using worthless collateral and did not repay, which constitutes a fraudulent loan transaction, aiming to use these frozen assets to pay for terrorism judgment compensation under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.Previously, hackers associated with the Lazarus Group minted unsecured rsETH through a cross-chain bridge vulnerability and borrowed approximately $230 million in assets from Aave, of which $71 million was intercepted by Arbitrum developers. The victim's lawyer also questioned Aave's standing, pointing out that its terms of service state it does not have control over user assets. Additionally, DeFi United has raised $327 million, exceeding the amount in dispute.

According to Cointelegraph, Coinbase has been sued in a federal court in California, with the case involving frozen funds related to a $55 million DAI phishing theft.The plaintiffs claim that a portion of the traceable stolen funds flowed into Coinbase retail user accounts after being mixed through Tornado Cash and are currently still frozen; Coinbase stated that the assets can only be released after a court ruling on ownership.The lawsuit also states that the theft is related to the malicious wallet theft platform Inferno Drainer, and the victims had commissioned Zero Shadow and Five Stones Intelligence to track the flow of funds.

According to official news, Aave LLC has submitted an emergency motion requesting the withdrawal of the asset freeze notice issued to Arbitrum DAO on May 1, 2026. This notice attempts to seize approximately $71 million worth of ETH, which belongs to the victims of the attack on April 18.Aave stated that attackers do not gain legal ownership of stolen property merely by stealing it, as the law clearly stipulates. The assets being recovered are intended to be returned to users affected by the attack on April 18, 2026. Freezing these assets harms the users that the recovery efforts are supposed to protect.Aave has requested the court to hold an emergency hearing and temporarily lift the freeze order, while continuing to work with the Arbitrum community and DeFi United to compensate the affected users.

According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. law firm Gerstein Harrow LLP has applied to the court for an injunction to prevent Arbitrum DAO from transferring frozen Ethereum assets related to the Kelp attack.The law firm claims that its clients have obtained default judgments in three cases against North Korea, totaling approximately $877 million (including punitive damages and interest), and assert a right to claim the related assets.Previously, Kelp DAO was attacked on April 18, resulting in losses of about $292 million, which is believed to be related to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group. Subsequently, the Arbitrum security committee urgently froze approximately 30,766 Ether (about $73 million).The incident has sparked controversy. Some community members believe that if the injunction takes effect, it will delay the return of funds to the victimized users and shift the North Korean-related debts onto secondary victims. Previously, Aave Labs had proposed to unfreeze the funds and inject them into a compensation fund to restore the damaged assets.It is worth noting that Gerstein Harrow has previously filed claims regarding assets stolen by North Korean-related hackers and frozen by cryptocurrency platforms, including the 2023 Heco Bridge incident. Industry analysts believe that this case may have a demonstrative impact on the disposal of DAO assets and the definition of cross-jurisdictional claims.

MegaETH executive PaperImperium disclosed on platform X that documents from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York show that the U.S. court has issued an injunction to Arbitrum DAO, prohibiting it from transferring approximately $71 million in ETH assets that were frozen during the KelpDAO hacking incident. The plaintiffs are attempting to use these funds to enforce unpaid judgment compensation related to North Korea's involvement in terrorism, kidnapping, and other cases over the years, and have applied to issue legal notice to Arbitrum DAO through alternative service, treating it as a "partnership organization" that can be held accountable.The court documents also indicate that Arbitrum DAO has a Security Council governed by ARB holders, which has the ability to take action in emergencies. Therefore, if relevant members refuse to cooperate, they may face legal liabilities such as contempt of court. The market believes that this case may become an important precedent for the U.S. judicial system directly constraining DAO governance structures and further highlights the compliance pressure on DeFi protocols within the real legal framework.

MegaETH supervisor PaperImperium disclosed on platform X that documents from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York show that the U.S. court has issued a restraining order to Arbitrum DAO, prohibiting it from transferring approximately $71 million in ETH assets that were frozen during the KelpDAO hacking incident.The plaintiffs are attempting to use these funds to enforce unpaid judgment compensations related to North Korea's involvement in terrorism, kidnapping, and other cases over the years, and have applied to serve legal notice to Arbitrum DAO by alternative means, treating it as a "partnership organization" that can be held accountable. The court documents also indicate that Arbitrum DAO has a Security Council governed by ARB holders, which has the ability to take action in emergencies; therefore, if relevant members refuse to cooperate, they may face legal liabilities such as contempt of court. The market believes that this case may become an important precedent for the U.S. judicial system directly constraining DAO governance structures and further highlight the compliance pressures DeFi protocols face within real legal frameworks.

According to market news, the Arbitrum committee voted to unfreeze $71 million worth of Ethereum to mitigate the $290 million loss caused by the Kelp DAO vulnerability.

Crypto analyst Ali Martinez stated that as May begins, Bitcoin is still oscillating within a narrow range, while order clusters at key price levels are forming, which may become the core area for large-scale liquidations.Upper resistance: $80,000. This position serves as a major psychological and technical resistance, gathering a large amount of short liquidity. If broken, it may trigger a short squeeze, pushing the price quickly up to $84,000. Lower support: If $80,000 fails to break, the lower liquidity range includes $75,000, $73,000, and $70,000, which may support a pullback. He pointed out that the current market is in a tug-of-war phase between bulls and bears, and if the price effectively breaks through the $75,000 to $80,000 range on a daily basis, it may determine the overall trend for the month.

According to an official announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, the "Fraud Center Strike Force" announced today a series of coordinated actions against Southeast Asian criminal organizations: two Chinese managers, Huang Xingshan and Jiang Wenjie, working at the "Shun Da Fraud Center" in Myanmar, have been indicted for allegedly forcing trafficked laborers to engage in cryptocurrency investment fraud and have been arrested in Thailand; a Telegram channel with over 6,000 followers, used to lure individuals to Cambodia's fraud centers for forced labor, has been shut down; and 503 fraudulent domain names disguised as legitimate investment platforms have been seized.On the financial side, the task force has frozen over $701 million in cryptocurrency suspected of being related to fraud and money laundering, and through "Operation Level Up," notified 8,935 victims, estimating the recovery of potential losses at approximately $563 million. Additionally, the U.S. State Department announced a reward of up to $10 million for information related to the "