New York court extends asset freeze order to assist Singapore Multichain liquidation proceedings

A New York judge on Thursday temporarily extended a freeze on about $63 million of stolen USDC stablecoin wallets, upholding a request by Multichain liquidators from Singapore to assist it in seeking recognition of the case in the United States.
Judge David S. Jones ordered Circle to continue to freeze three Ethereum wallets and maintain a reserve of dollars backing the stolen USDCs.
The liquidators warned of "potential direct and irreparable harm" if the New York state court lifted Circle's freeze and allowed the assets to be transferred or claimed abroad. The order also halted a separate class action lawsuit in which a group of US investors had sued Circle for the same $63 million.
The case was transferred from New York State Court to the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday, with Circle invoking the Class Action Fairness Act, which allows large class actions involving multiple parties to be heard in federal court.
The order is a provisional measure under Section 1519 of the Bankruptcy Code, which allows the court to grant emergency interim relief to protect assets until a foreign case is formally recognized.
In that case, the court will examine whether Singapore's liquidation proceedings meet the criteria of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code for "foreign main proceedings" in cross-border insolvency cooperation.