Breaking: Circle CEO Confirms Hack on Employee Account Promising USDC Airdrop – What’s Going On?

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire has revealed that the Twitter account of one of the company’s top executives that promised a USDC airdrop has been hacked. 

Dante Disparte, who joined Circle as its chief strategy officer and head of global policy in April 2021, said in a suspicious Twitter thread that USDC holders would get a bonus after the stablecoin’s de-peg earlier this month. 

The “one-time bonus” for USDC users would come in the form of an airdrop, according to the hacked account.

However, Allaire was quick to warn the crypto community that the account was hacked. 

The official Twitter account of Circle also confirmed that Disparte’s Twitter account had been hacked. The company said:

“This Twitter account (@ddisparte) has been taken over by a scammer. Any links to offers are scams. We are investigating the situation and taking action accordingly.”

Notably, prior to the official alerts, numerous individuals within the crypto community identified the phishing attempt by a hacker and proactively disseminated information to prevent potential victims from being ensnared by the scam.

USDC in the Spotlight After De-Pegging

Circle’s USDC has been at the center of a debate over the past couple of weeks amid the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which led to the de-pegging of the stablecoin. 

On March 10, Silicon Valley Bank, one of the most popular lenders to Silicon Valley tech and growth startups, failed after suffering a bank run. 

The collapse sent shockwaves across financial markets and even impacted numerous crypto companies exposed to the bank.

For once, Circle, the issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin USDC, revealed that it has $3.3 billion in an account maintained by the bank. 

Following the revelation, USDC was hit with a wave of redemptions as concerns around reserves mounted, leading to the stablecoin losing its peg.

Data by CoinMarketCap shows USDC’s price, which is supposed to be pegged to $1, slid to an all-time low of around $0.8774 on March 11. 

However, the stablecoin started to recover gradually following an inflow of positive news.

Specifically, US regulators announced a raft of emergency measures shortly after the collapse. 

The US Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, and the FDIC announced they would use the FDIC’s insurance funds to prevent depositors from losing money – rendering Circle whole again.

At present, USDC is trading at $0.9989, as per CoinMarketCap data. 

Notably, Circle maintains a steadfast commitment to backing each USDC on a 1-to-1 basis with the US dollar.