AMLBOT data shows that Tether has frozen about $3.3 billion to Circle’s $109 million between 2023 and 2025, exposing major differences in how the two largest stablecoin issuers oversee funding.
Summary
- Tether blacklisted 7,268 addresses and froze approximately $3.3 billion, mostly on Tron, using a freeze-burn-rerelease model coordinated with U.S. law enforcement.
- Circle froze $109 million across 372 addresses, almost entirely on Ethereum, acting primarily on court or regulatory orders without burning or reissuing tokens.
- The gap in frozen value highlights contrasting compliance philosophies that determine how USDT and USDC behave under sanctions, investigations, and fraud investigations.
Tether and Circle demonstrated significantly different approaches to freezing stablecoin addresses between 2023 and 2025, with Tether freezing about 30 times more value than its competitor, according to data released by AMLBOT.
Tether froze about $3.3 billion in crypto assets during the period, while Circle froze about $109 million, the data showed. The figures highlight the contrasting compliance and enforcement strategies between the two largest stablecoin issuers.
According to the report, Tether blacklisted 7,268 addresses between 2023 and 2025. More than 2,800 of these actions were carried out in coordination with U.S. law enforcement, with funds linked to fraud and other criminal activity, AMLBOT reported.
A significant portion of the frozen Tether tokens were on the Tron network, accounting for more than 53% of all frozen tokens, according to the data. Tether uses a freeze, burn and reissue mechanism that allows recovered funds to be voided and reissued under controlled conditions, the report said.
The data showed that there is $1.54 billion worth of Tether on the Ethereum network currently held in banned wallets, reflecting the extent of enforcement associated with Ethereum-based tokens.
Circle froze 372 addresses, yielding a total of $109 million in stablecoin, according to the dataset. Circle only freezes funds pursuant to explicit court orders or regulatory guidelines and does not burn or issue tokens after freezing, the data shows. The Ethereum data showed that there were $109.25 million in banned wallets, which closely matched Circle’s reported enforcement totals.
The data illustrates operational differences between the two stablecoin issuers. Tether’s model involves rapid intervention and large-scale asset recovery, while Circle’s approach emphasizes legal formality and restraint, the report said.
Issuer policies, cross-jurisdictional cooperation and enforcement mechanisms influence how stablecoin assets behave in cases involving compliance, investigations or sanctions, the data shows.
