AMLBot Report Shows Tether Froze $3.3B vs Circle's $109M in Illicit Stablecoin Funds from 2023 to 2025

On 26 December 2025, blockchain intelligence firm AMLBot reported a major disparity between how Tether and Circle restrict illicit stablecoin transactions. From 2023 to 2025, Tether froze over $3 billion in USDT while Circle restricted just above $100 million in USDC, reflecting sharply different enforcement models. Tether acts quickly and sometimes burns and reissues tokens, whereas Circle typically reacts only to formal legal orders and leaves frozen coins untouched.