Tether froze $3.3B in crypto property, 30x greater than Circle’s $109M, utilizing proactive strategies like freeze, burn, and reissue.
A latest AMLBot report reveals that Tether froze round $3.3 billion in crypto property between 2023 and 2025. That is in stark distinction to Circle’s $109 million.
Tether’s aggressive strategy to freezing crypto raises questions on privateness, whereas Circle’s extra conservative mannequin follows authorized orders. These variations are highlighted by the distinctive strategies utilized by every firm.
Tether’s Aggressive Freezing Technique
Tether froze greater than $3.3 billion in property throughout a number of blockchains. A good portion of this quantity was on the TRON community.
In complete, Tether blacklisted 7,268 addresses, together with over 2,800 linked to legislation enforcement requests. The corporate usually freezes property with out ready for courtroom orders, appearing when it believes it’s vital to guard customers or stop prison exercise.
AMLBot reported that between 2023 and 2025, Tether and Circle froze roughly $3.3 billion and $109 million in crypto property by way of their freezing mechanisms—a roughly 30x hole. The report mentioned Tether blacklisted 7,268 addresses throughout the interval, with over 2,800 dealt with in… pic.twitter.com/5ro5R81Ueg
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) December 25, 2025
Tether’s freezing mechanism includes extra than simply halting transactions. It additionally features a strategy of burning and reissuing tokens, which permits for the return of funds to victims.
In late 2025, over 25 million tokens had been destroyed as a part of this course of. Whereas this method helps get well stolen funds, it raises considerations about Tether’s centralized management and the dangers of potential censorship.
Circle’s Conservative Freezing Method
Circle, in contrast, takes a way more conservative strategy. The corporate froze simply $109 million in USDC, throughout 372 addresses, following courtroom orders or authorized necessities.
Circle doesn’t use the burn-and-reissue course of that Tether employs. As soon as funds are frozen, they keep frozen till a authorized choice is made to unfreeze them.
From 2023–2025, Tether froze ~$3.3B in crypto property versus $109M by Circle, a ~30x hole.
Tether blacklisted 7,268 addresses, usually working with U.S. legislation enforcement, and used a freeze → burn → reissue course of, with 53% of frozen USDT on Tron.
Circle took a stricter route,… pic.twitter.com/p3wki82iFG
— 0xMarioNawfal (@RoundtableSpace) December 25, 2025
This mannequin ends in fewer however bigger freezing occasions.
Circle’s strategy is extra clear and predictable, because it solely acts when legally obligated. This makes Circle’s actions much less frequent however anchored to formal authorized and regulatory necessities.
In consequence, Circle avoids the privateness considerations tied to Tether’s extra frequent freezes and reissuances.
Associated Studying: Tether Weighs Tokenized Fairness for Investor Liquidity
The Distinction in Freezing Mechanisms
The freezing mechanisms utilized by Tether and Circle differ considerably. Tether depends on a multi-signature pockets system, requiring a number of approvals earlier than a freeze is executed.
This safety mannequin, whereas efficient, can result in delays in freezing property. In some instances, this delay has allowed illicit actors to withdraw funds, leading to losses of roughly $78 million since 2017.
Circle’s freezing course of is extra easy, because it solely happens following a proper authorized order. This results in fewer freezing actions but in addition ensures that the method is extra legally predictable.
Whereas each corporations are concerned in freezing property, Tether’s proactive freezing mannequin creates a a lot larger quantity of frozen property in comparison with Circle’s reactive strategy.