As Circle proudly announced its big move to New York, the stablecoin issuer found itself in the crosshairs of ZachXBT, a well-known on-chain detective in the crypto world, who didn’t hold back on his criticisms. 

While Circle's relocation made headlines, ZachXBT's sharp commentary sparked a new wave of scrutiny. 

In an expletive-ridden post on X, ZachXBT took aim at Circle and its co-founder Jeremy Allaire, claiming they do not care about the ecosystem. Additionally, the on-chain sleuth accused the stablecoin issuer company of taking advantage of DeFi exploits or hacks by extracting profits.  

Upon investigating the crypto hackers Lazarus Group’s laundering activities, ZachXBT reported other stablecoin issuers Paxos, Tether and Techteryx had blacklisted two suspicious addresses between April 27 and April 28. 

Meanwhile, Circle had taken four months to blacklist the suspected addresses, finally doing so on Sept. 14. 

The accusations from ZachXBT began when Circle announced it was moving its global HQ to New York City “on one of the top floors of World Trade Center.” In its announcement, Allaire made a generic statement about how the “US is about to become the decisive leader” in the tech sector and financial world, pointing out it is one of the reasons behind its move. 

The delay by Circle has raised suspicions about the stablecoin issuer’s operation and the community wondered why the stablecoin issuer had taken time to blacklist these Lazarus Group-affiliated addresses. 

When a user asked a similar question to ZachXBT back in Sept. 14, the crypto detective claimed: “They pretend to be the compliant stablecoin helping protect the ecosystem when in reality it is not exactly true.”

Even now, some crypto community members remain doubtful about Circle.