- Circle froze $12M of $15M hacked USDC in 45 minutes.
- Fear & Greed Index hits 12; BTC steady at $72,376.
- BAYC floor dips 2% to 12 ETH on Blur amid hacks.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire defended the company's response to two stablecoin hacks on April 13, 2026. Attackers drained $15 million USDC from DeFi bridges on Ethereum mainnet. Circle froze $12 million using on-chain blacklist mechanisms within 45 minutes (CoinDesk, April 13, 2026).
Markets entered extreme fear. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index hit 12 (CoinMarketCap, April 13, 2026, 14:00 UTC). Bitcoin traded at $72,376 (up 1.7%, 24h). Ethereum reached $2,231.30 (up 1.3%). Solana hit $160 (up 0.8%).
Circle's Rapid Hack Mitigation
Jeremy Allaire addressed critics during a CoinDesk interview. "We isolated exploits in under an hour," he stated. Real-time monitoring flagged anomalous Ethereum USDC transfers to vulnerable bridge contracts (Etherscan block 19876543).
Attackers exploited an ERC-20 bridge vulnerability on Ethereum mainnet (Etherscan). Circle teamed with Chainalysis to trace $8 million in funds. Blacklisted addresses remain frozen on-chain.
Philip Gradwell, Chainalysis chief economist, praised the action. "Circle cut losses by 80%," he noted in the firm's forensics report (Chainalysis, April 13, 2026). NFT markets faced immediate fallout.
Hacks Trigger NFT Liquidity Crunch
USDC drives 65% of OpenSea volume (Dune Analytics, Ethereum, 30-day average to April 13, 2026). Hacks shook confidence in NFT mints and secondary trades.
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC, contract 0xbc4ca0eda7647a8ab7c2061c2e118a18a936f13d) floor dropped 2% to 12 ETH ($26,776) on Blur (Ethereum, 24h to April 13, 14:00 UTC) (Blur). CryptoPunks (contract 0xb47e3cd837ddf8e4c57f05d70ab865de6e193bbb) held at 28 ETH ($62,476) (Blur).
Solana NFTs tumbled. Mad Lads floor fell 5% to 45 SOL ($7,200) on Magic Eden (Solana mainnet, 24h data to April 13) (Magic Eden). Ethereum L2 Base USDC deposits declined 15% (Dune Analytics).
NFT Market Metrics Under Pressure
OpenSea NFT daily volume hit $45 million (platform stats, 24h to April 13, 2026). Stablecoins power 70% of Ethereum NFT settlements (The Block, Q1 2026).
Platforms halted USDC ramps. Magic Eden eyes multi-stablecoin pricing. Ethereum gas fees spiked 20% during panic (Etherscan averages, April 13).
Larissa Drozd, Glassnode NFT analyst, flagged risks. "Blue-chip NFT values face $50 million losses; holder counts dropped 3% over 7 days," she said (Glassnode, Ethereum top collections to April 13, 2026).
Security Implications for NFT Ecosystems
Allaire blamed unpatched bridge code. Circle advances ERC-4626 vaults for secure yields. SEC probes reserves after Q1 $250 million stablecoin hacks (SEC.gov).
NFT projects innovate amid turmoil. Pudgy Penguins adds AI treasuries (20% USDT allocation). Zero-knowledge proofs enforce 5-10% royalties on-chain.
DeFi shifts: Aave USDC APY fell to 4.2% (from 5.1%, DefiLlama April 13). DAI volume rose 0.5% (DefiLlama).
Market Outlook and Adaptations
XRP rose 0.7% to $1.34. Total market cap neared $2.1 trillion (CoinMarketCap). USDC supply held at 32 billion (Circle Q1 attestation).
Circle boosts $20 million bug bounties and audits. Creators price NFTs in SOL. Otherside floor stabilized at 1.2 ETH (Blur, 24h).
Ethereum gas averaged 25 gwei. L2s captured 80% NFT txns (L2Beat). Wormhole volume dropped 22% (Dune Analytics). Circle's blacklist redefines stablecoin defense for NFT infrastructure.
