Stablecoin Flows Through Crypto Privacy Tools: $4.2B Exposed by Protocol, Asset, and Risk Profile

Intro

More than $4.2 billion in stablecoins have been processed by means of on-chain privateness protocols, and the information reveals patterns that problem frequent assumptions about who makes use of these instruments and why. AMLBot’s evaluation of its public Dune Analytics Dashboard — which tracks cumulative stablecoin volumes throughout Tornado Cash, Railgun, zkBOB, Hinkal, Aztec, and Privacy Pools 0xBow — exhibits that stablecoin choice in privateness protocols will not be random. It correlates instantly with every protocol’s compliance posture. 

In protocols with out screening, 99–100% of quantity is DAI — the one main stablecoin that can not be frozen. In protocols with compliance mechanisms, USDC dominates at as much as 81%. The information additionally exhibits that OFAC’s 2022 sanctions on Tornado Cash successfully stopped the protocol’s development, however didn’t cut back total demand for stablecoin privateness. Users migrated to Railgun and zkBOB, each of which have since surpassed Tornado Cash in cumulative quantity. After sanctions had been lifted in March 2025, customers didn’t return.

These findings, and others explored intimately under, have direct implications for compliance groups, blockchain investigators, danger analysts, and policymakers working to know how privateness infrastructure is definitely used — and the right way to calibrate their monitoring programs accordingly.

The dashboard is freely accessible and up to date recurrently:  Stablecoin Turnover in On-Chain Privacy Tools: AMLBot’s Dune Dashboard.

Appendix: Dashboard Documentation

What Are Privacy Tools in Crypto?

Crypto privateness instruments are on-chain protocols that break the seen hyperlink between sender and receiver. They do that in several methods, and the variations matter for compliance.

– Mixers pool deposits from a number of customers and allow them to withdraw equal quantities to recent addresses. Tornado Cash is the best-known instance. It makes use of fixed-denomination swimming pools (0.1, 1, 10, 100), so each deposit and withdrawal appears to be like the identical on-chain. OFAC sanctioned it in August 2022, however these sanctions had been lifted in March 2025 after the Fifth Circuit dominated that immutable good contracts don’t qualify as “property” underneath IEEPA. The protocol’s good contracts stored working autonomously all through the sanctions interval regardless, since there was nobody to “flip them off.” The legal case towards Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm reached a partial verdict in August 2025. A jury convicted Storm of conspiracy to function an unlicensed cash transmitting enterprise, however deadlocked on the 2 extra critical fees — conspiracy to commit cash laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions. The deadlocked fees led to a partial mistrial. Storm filed a movement for acquittal on the conviction, which is pending judicial evaluation as of early 2026. Prosecutors have requested a retrial on the unresolved counts for late 2026. Separately, the builders of Samourai Wallet, a Bitcoin-focused privateness mixer, pleaded responsible to conspiracy fees and had been sentenced to 4 and 5 years in jail in late 2025 — establishing one other precedent within the evolving authorized panorama round privateness device builders.

– Shielded Transfer Systems work otherwise. Railgun, as an illustration, makes use of zk-SNARKs (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge) to defend pockets addresses whereas protecting the transactions themselves legitimate and auditable on-chain. It additionally runs a “Private Proofs of Innocence” mechanism that screens transfers towards identified illicit addresses, which is an fascinating try to reconcile privateness with compliance. In early 2026, Railgun launched Railgun_connect, a characteristic enabling non-public wallets to work together with DeFi protocols like CowSwap with out unshielding funds — a big step towards making privateness the default fairly than an add-on.

– Compliance-Oriented Privacy Pools characterize a more moderen strategy. Privacy Pools 0xBow, launched on Ethereum mainnet in 2025 and based mostly on analysis co-authored by Vitalik Buterin, makes use of Association Set Providers (ASPs) to display screen deposits earlier than admitting them into the privateness pool. Users can show their funds aren’t related to illicit exercise with out revealing transaction particulars. This “compliance-by-design” strategy goals to supply privateness with out creating regulatory publicity — a mannequin that differs basically from each conventional mixers and shielded switch programs.

– Protocol-Specific Privacy Layers like zkBOB and Hinkal every have their very own strategy, however basically they permit customers to conduct transactions privately. zkBOB was constructed across the BOB stablecoin but in addition helps USDC and USDT by way of Zero-Knowledge Proofs. Hinkal helps stablecoin and DeFi token shielding, together with CRV alongside the usual stablecoins, and makes use of KYC-gated entry to limit its privateness swimming pools to verified customers.

The sensible distinction for compliance groups is that every protocol leaves a unique footprint on-chain, processes totally different property, and has a unique regulatory historical past. Even although Tornado Cash sanctions had been lifted in March 2025, transactions with historic Tornado Cash publicity nonetheless get flagged otherwise than Railgun exercise, which has built-in screening. Privacy Pools 0xBow provides one other layer of nuance: it actively excludes illicit deposits, which implies publicity to Privacy Pools carries a unique compliance profile than publicity to protocols with out such screening. Knowing which protocol processed which stablecoin, at what quantity, is what helps you to make these distinctions fairly than treating the whole lot as generic “mixer publicity.”

What the Dashboard Covers

It tracks the cumulative worth of stablecoin transfers routed by means of privateness good contracts throughout the next protocols:

• Tornado Cash — non-custodial mixer utilizing fixed-denomination deposit swimming pools, sanctioned by OFAC in August 2022. Despite sanctions and enforcement actions, the protocol’s good contracts continued to function autonomously on-chain all through the sanctions interval. The sanctions had been lifted in March 2025 after the Fifth Circuit dominated that immutable good contracts don’t qualify as “property” underneath IEEPA. Criminal proceedings towards co-founder Roman Storm resulted in a blended verdict in August 2025: conviction on conspiracy to function an unlicensed cash transmitting enterprise, with the jury deadlocked on the extra critical cash laundering and sanctions conspiracy fees. As of early 2026, prosecutors have requested a retrial on the unresolved counts.
• Railgun — zk-SNARK-based privateness system that shields pockets addresses utilizing Zero-Knowledge Proofs. Implements a Private Proofs of Innocence mechanism designed to display screen towards identified illicit addresses. 
• zkBOB — privateness protocol constructed across the BOB stablecoin, additionally supporting USDC and USDT transfers by way of Zero-Knowledge Proofs.
• Hinkal — privateness protocol supporting stablecoin and DeFi token shielding, together with CRV (Curve DAO Token) alongside commonplace stablecoins. Hinkal positions itself as an institutional-grade privateness layer with KYC-gated entry.
• Aztec (zk.cash) — privacy-focused Layer 2 constructed on Ethereum utilizing zk-rollup structure. The dashboard tracks historic DAI turnover by means of Aztec’s privateness swimming pools, with a cumulative quantity of $124 million. While the unique zk.cash software was sundown, its on-chain transaction historical past stays a part of the privateness protocol panorama, and the Aztec Network launched its new Ignition Chain mainnet in November 2025.
• Privacy Pools 0xBow — compliance-oriented privateness protocol launched on Ethereum mainnet in March 2025, based mostly on research co-authored by Vitalik Buterin. Uses an Association Set Provider (ASP) mechanism that screens deposits towards identified illicit addresses earlier than admitting them into the privateness pool. Users can generate Zero-Knowledge Proofs displaying their withdrawal belongs to a compliant set, with out revealing particular transaction particulars. Supports DAI, USDC, USDT, USDS, and BOLD.

The dashboard doesn’t declare to cowl each current privateness device or blockchain, nevertheless it captures essentially the most broadly used protocols related to compliance and investigative workflows.

Tracked Stablecoins

• DAI — decentralized stablecoin issued by MakerDAO (now Sky). Tracked throughout Tornado Cash, Railgun, Hinkal, Aztec, and Privacy Pools 0xBow.
• cDAI — Compound-wrapped DAI, representing DAI deposited into the Compound lending protocol. Tracked in Tornado Cash, the place it traditionally circulated by means of devoted privateness swimming pools.
• USDC — USD-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle. Tracked throughout Tornado Cash, Railgun, zkBOB, Hinkal, and Privacy Pools 0xBow.
• cUSDC — Compound-wrapped USDC. Tracked in Tornado Cash.
• USDT — USD-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether. Tracked throughout Tornado Cash, Railgun, zkBOB, Hinkal, and Privacy Pools 0xBow.
• BOB — stablecoin native to the zkBOB protocol ecosystem. Tracked in zkBOB.
• CRV — Curve DAO governance token. While not a stablecoin within the conventional sense, CRV is included as a result of it’s actively processed by means of Hinkal’s privateness mechanism and represents a significant share of that protocol’s exercise.
• USDS — stablecoin issued by Sky (previously MakerDAO), the rebranded successor to DAI inside the Sky ecosystem. Tracked in Privacy Pools 0xBow.
• BOLD — stablecoin native to the Liquity v2 protocol. Tracked in Privacy Pools 0xBow.

 Both canonical and wrapped token varieties are included as a result of they characterize the identical underlying financial publicity and are generally utilized in privateness protocol interactions. The dashboard expands its asset protection as new stablecoins seem in privateness swimming pools.

Who This Dashboard Is For

(a) AML Compliance Teams monitoring publicity to privateness protocols in transaction flows. If you’re constructing or refining a crypto transaction monitoring workflow, this dashboard tells you which ones stablecoins and protocols carry essentially the most quantity, so you’ll be able to prioritize what to flag.

(b) Blockchain Investigators tracing funds by means of mixing and shielding providers and utilizing any blockchain investigation tool to reconstruct fund flows. Understanding which protocols course of which stablecoins — and at what scale — helps prioritize investigative sources and contextualize on-chain findings.

(c) Risk Analysts and Compliance Officers at exchanges, OTC Desks, and fee suppliers who have to assess privateness protocol publicity as a part of their KYT workflows.

(d) Researchers and Policymakers finding out the dimensions of privateness protocol utilization, the affect of sanctions enforcement on on-chain habits, and the evolution of the crypto privateness ecosystem.

(e) Journalists and Analysts masking crypto compliance, DeFi privateness, and illicit finance tendencies who want verifiable, on-chain information fairly than estimates or projections.

How to Use the Dashboard

The Stablecoin Turnover in On-Chain Privacy Tools: AMLBot’s Dune Dashboard is structured with paired visualizations for every protocol and stablecoin mixture:

• Cumulative Total — a single determine displaying the all-time USD worth of stablecoin transfers by means of a given protocol for a selected asset.
• Historical Turnover Chart — a time-series bar chart displaying how volumes developed month by month, revealing tendencies, seasonal patterns, and the affect of exterior occasions (such because the OFAC sanctions on Tornado Cash and their subsequent lifting).
• Asset Distribution — a pie chart displaying the general breakdown of stablecoin quantity by asset kind throughout all protocols (USDT: 52.1%, DAI: 31.4%, USDC: 16.1%, with BOB, CRV, BOLD, and USDS making up the rest).

Users can filter, examine, and cross-reference information throughout protocols to establish shifts in privateness protocol utilization over time. The dashboard is publicly accessible and requires no account or subscription to view.

Methodology

• Data Source. On-chain transaction information listed by way of Dune Analytics SQL queries towards decoded good contract occasion logs.
• Measurement. Each information level represents the cumulative USD worth of stablecoin transfers processed by means of the respective protocol’s privateness good contracts. This contains each deposits into and withdrawals from privateness swimming pools or shielding mechanisms.
• Updates. The dashboard refreshes mechanically as new on-chain information turns into out there. Historical information is cumulative and grows over time.
• Scope Limitations. The dashboard captures essentially the most broadly used protocols, stablecoins, and networks however doesn’t cowl each current privateness device, blockchain, or token. New protocols and property are added as they achieve significant quantity. Figures replicate cumulative historic totals and could differ from point-in-time snapshots relying on when the dashboard is seen.

Why Stablecoin-Specific Data Matters

Most public discussions of privateness protocol utilization give attention to ETH volumes or mixture totals. Stablecoin-specific information tells a unique and arguably extra operationally related story. In 2026, stablecoins are the first medium for worth switch in crypto. They’re dollar-denominated, liquid on mainly each trade, and built-in into most DeFi protocols. If you’re attempting to maneuver a considerable amount of worth with out value danger, you’re utilizing a stablecoin. That’s true whether or not you’re a treasury supervisor at a professional firm or somebody laundering stolen funds. The asset class doesn’t care about intent. When stolen funds, laundered proceeds, or sanctioned property transfer by means of privateness protocols, they’re more and more denominated in stablecoins fairly than risky property. Tracking stablecoin-specific flows supplies a clearer image of how these protocols are utilized in apply.

The total stablecoin distribution throughout all six protocols reveals a transparent hierarchy — and the breakdown itself is analytically vital.

Figure 2. Stablecoin Composition Across All Tracked Privacy Protocols. USDT accounts for greater than half of all quantity, reflecting each its market dominance and customers’ demand for privateness round essentially the most regularly frozen stablecoin. Data Source: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

Centralized stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle have the technical skill to freeze tokens on the good contract stage. AMLBot’s Analysis of Stablecoin Freezing Activity Across 2023–2025 discovered that Tether blacklisted 7,268 addresses with $3.29 billion frozen, whereas Circle blacklisted 372 addresses with $109 million frozen. That 30x distinction in enforcement depth impacts how every stablecoin will get distributed throughout privateness protocols. Users who’re involved about freezing danger gravitate towards DAI, which might’t be frozen on the issuer stage as a result of it’s decentralized. How this habits performs out throughout particular protocols is instantly observable within the dashboard information — and is explored intimately within the Analytical Insights part under.

Different stablecoins point out totally different danger profiles. A transaction flagged for privateness protocol interplay carries a unique danger profile relying on whether or not it includes DAI, USDC, or USDT — and which protocol processed it. This dashboard supplies the information wanted to make these distinctions.

Cross-chain motion provides one other layer. Stablecoins bridge simply between Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, and Arbitrum. That makes them handy for chain-hopping methods that obscure fund flows. And as a result of stablecoins are so broadly accepted at exchanges and OTC desks, changing again to fiat on the finish is comparatively frictionless.

The emergence of newer stablecoins in privateness infrastructure can also be value noting. USDS (Sky’s successor to DAI) and BOLD (Liquity v2) have began showing in Privacy Pools 0xBow, suggesting that the stablecoin panorama inside privateness protocols is diversifying past the unique DAI/USDC/USDT trio.

Key Findings

• Total tracked stablecoin quantity throughout all six protocols exceeds $4.2 billion cumulative. zkBOB ($1.59B), Railgun ($1.58B), and Tornado Cash ($847M) account for the overwhelming majority, adopted by Aztec ($124M), Hinkal ($70M), and Privacy Pools 0xBow ($4.6M). 
• USDT dominates total, accounting for 52.1% of all stablecoin quantity in privateness infrastructure. $1.5 billion flows by means of zkBOB alone, plus $667 million by means of Railgun. It is the most-used stablecoin in privateness infrastructure by a large margin.
• DAI accounts for 31.4% of whole quantity. In Tornado Cash particularly, DAI and cDAI make up $842 million of the protocol’s $847 million stablecoin quantity, doubtless as a result of DAI can’t be frozen by a centralized issuer the best way USDT and USDC can. DAI additionally dominates Aztec’s tracked quantity fully ($124M).
• USDC accounts for 16.1% of whole quantity and has emerged as a big asset in privateness infrastructure, significantly by means of Railgun, the place USDC turnover has reached $565 million, making it the second-largest stablecoin movement by means of that protocol. Railgun has grow to be the biggest privateness protocol by stablecoin selection, processing $667M in USDT, $565M in USDC, and $345M in DAI, totaling $1.58 billion.
• Tornado Cash processes virtually completely DAI: its USDC and USDT volumes are negligible ($1.8M and $3.7M respectively), reinforcing that customers of this protocol overwhelmingly desire the decentralized stablecoin that may’t be frozen on the issuer stage.
• Hinkal has processed $70.2 million in stablecoin and DeFi token quantity, with USDC ($37.3M) and USDT ($20.6M) as the first property, supplemented by DAI ($9.9M) and CRV ($2.5M).
• Privacy Pools 0xBow, the latest protocol on the dashboard, has processed $4.6 million since its launch in mid-2025, with quantity rising sharply from December 2025 onward. USDC ($3.7M) is its dominant asset. 

The chart under exhibits how cumulative stablecoin quantity is distributed throughout the six tracked protocols.

Figure 1. Figure 1. Cumulative Stablecoin Volume by Privacy Protocol. zkBOB and Railgun every exceed $1.5B, whereas Tornado Cash, as soon as the dominant protocol, sits at $847M following sanctions-driven person migration. Data Source: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

Most public discussions of privateness protocol utilization give attention to ETH volumes or mixture totals. Stablecoin-specific information tells a unique and arguably extra operationally related story. In 2026, stablecoins are the first medium for worth switch in crypto. They’re dollar-denominated, liquid on mainly each trade, and built-in into most DeFi protocols. If you’re attempting to maneuver a considerable amount of worth with out value danger, you’re utilizing a stablecoin. That’s true whether or not you’re a treasury supervisor at a professional firm or somebody laundering stolen funds. The asset class doesn’t care about intent. When stolen funds, laundered proceeds, or sanctioned property transfer by means of privateness protocols, they’re more and more denominated in stablecoins fairly than risky property. Tracking stablecoin-specific flows supplies a clearer image of how these protocols are utilized in apply.

The total stablecoin distribution throughout all six protocols reveals a transparent hierarchy — and the breakdown itself is analytically vital.

Figure 2. Stablecoin Composition Across All Tracked Privacy Protocols. USDT accounts for greater than half of all quantity, reflecting each its market dominance and customers’ demand for privateness round essentially the most regularly frozen stablecoin. Data Source: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

Centralized stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle have the technical skill to freeze tokens on the good contract stage. AMLBot’s Analysis of Stablecoin Freezing Activity Across 2023–2025 discovered that Tether blacklisted 7,268 addresses with $3.29 billion frozen, whereas Circle blacklisted 372 addresses with $109 million frozen. That 30x distinction in enforcement depth impacts how every stablecoin will get distributed throughout privateness protocols. Users who’re involved about freezing danger gravitate towards DAI, which might’t be frozen on the issuer stage as a result of it’s decentralized. How this habits performs out throughout particular protocols is instantly observable within the dashboard information — and is explored intimately within the Analytical Insights part under.

Different stablecoins point out totally different danger profiles. A transaction flagged for privateness protocol interplay carries a unique danger profile relying on whether or not it includes DAI, USDC, or USDT — and which protocol processed it. Cross-chain bridging between Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, and Arbitrum provides additional complexity, making stablecoins handy for chain-hopping methods that obscure fund flows. The dashboard supplies the information wanted to make these distinctions. The following part examines what that information reveals when analyzed throughout protocols.

Analytical Insights: What the Data Reveals About Privacy Protocol Usage

The dashboard information is beneficial as a reference device, however its actual worth lies in what it reveals once you take a look at the numbers throughout protocols and stablecoins collectively. Below are the important thing analytical findings we’ve recognized — patterns that aren’t seen from any single chart, however emerge when the dataset is examined as an entire.

1. Freezing Risk Is the Primary Driver of Stablecoin Selection in Privacy Protocols

One of essentially the most constant patterns within the information is the connection between a protocol’s compliance posture and the kind of stablecoin its customers desire.

As famous above, centralized stablecoin issuers like Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) have the power to freeze tokens on the good contract stage, which means they will block any particular deal with from sending or receiving their stablecoin. DAI (now ruled by Sky, previously MakerDAO) is totally different — it’s a decentralized stablecoin with no issuer that may freeze particular person tokens. With that context, the dashboard information exhibits a sample:

Figure 3. Stablecoin Composition by Protocol, ordered from least to most compliance screening. In unscreened protocols (Tornado Cash, Aztec), customers select virtually completely non-freezable DAI. As compliance mechanisms enhance, freezable stablecoins (USDC, USDT) grow to be dominant — a behavioral sample instantly observable within the information. Data Source: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

In protocols with no compliance screening, customers virtually completely select DAI — the stablecoin that can not be frozen. Tornado Cash processes 99.4% DAI ($842M out of $847M whole). Aztec processes 100% DAI ($124M). The mixed USDC and USDT quantity in Tornado Cash is underneath $5.5 million — successfully a rounding error on a $847 million whole.

In protocols with built-in compliance mechanisms, customers are snug utilizing freezable stablecoins. In Railgun (which runs Private Proofs of Innocence screening), the breakdown is 42% USDT, 36% USDC, and 22% DAI — a way more balanced combine. In Hinkal (which requires KYC verification to entry), USDC truly leads at 53%. In Privacy Pools 0xBow (which makes use of Association Set Providers to display screen deposits), USDC dominates at 81%. 

It’s a behavioral sign: the extra a protocol does to distance itself from illicit exercise, the extra keen customers are to carry property that may be traced and frozen. When there’s no such mechanism, customers shield themselves by selecting the one main stablecoin that no single entity can freeze. For compliance professionals, this discovering has a direct sensible software: the stablecoin-protocol mixture in a flagged transaction is informative. This is explored additional in Section 5.

2. The Frozen Stablecoin Paradox: USDT Is Both the Most Frozen and the Most Private

At first look, this appears contradictory: USDT accounts for 52.1% of all stablecoin quantity in privateness infrastructure (Figure 2), making it by far essentially the most privately transacted stablecoin, and but USDT can also be the stablecoin most aggressively frozen by its issuer.

But the contradiction dissolves once you perceive it as a suggestions loop fairly than a paradox.

USDT is essentially the most broadly used stablecoin in crypto. According to DefiLlama, its market capitalization exceeds that of USDC by a big margin, and it dominates buying and selling pairs throughout each centralized and decentralized exchanges. So the baseline quantity of USDT in any crypto exercise, together with privateness protocols, is of course high.

At the identical time, as famous earlier, Tether’s considerably extra aggressive enforcement posture creates an incentive for USDT holders to hunt privateness instruments — not essentially for illicit functions, however as a result of the chance of getting property frozen (doubtlessly incorrectly or with out enough recourse) is increased with USDT than with every other main stablecoin.

Figure 6. Stablecoin Diversification Comparison: zkBOB vs. Railgun. Both protocols course of roughly $1.6B in cumulative quantity, however zkBOB is dependent upon a single asset (94.5% USDT), whereas Railgun maintains a balanced combine throughout three stablecoins. Data Source: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

The information exhibits the place this USDT goes: primarily into zkBOB ($1.5 billion) and Railgun ($667 million). Notably, USDT customers don’t swap to DAI to keep away from freezing danger — they keep in USDT however route it by means of privateness infrastructure. This means that what these customers need will not be a unique asset, however a layer of privateness across the similar asset. They need the liquidity and market acceptance of USDT, mixed with the safety that privateness protocols supply.

For danger analysts, it is a helpful calibration level. A USDT transaction flagged for privateness protocol publicity shouldn’t be mechanically handled as increased danger than a DAI transaction with the identical publicity. The motivation for looking for privateness could differ by asset: USDT customers could also be looking for safety from aggressive issuer-level enforcement, whereas DAI customers in unscreened protocols could also be looking for most untraceability.

3. OFAC Sanctions Redirected Privacy Demand — and It Never Came Back

The historic turnover charts for every protocol inform an necessary story about what occurs when regulatory motion hits a selected privateness device.

Figure 4. Cumulative Stablecoin Turnover for Tornado Cash, Railgun, and zkBOB from 2019 to March 2026. Two vertical markers present the August 2022 OFAC sanctions and their March 2025 elimination. Tornado Cash’s development stopped on the first marker and didn’t resume after the second — whereas different protocols continued to speed up. Data supply: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

In August 2022, OFAC sanctioned Tornado Cash. Figure 4 exhibits that Tornado Cash’s stablecoin quantity development successfully stopped round that time — the cumulative determine plateaued and has barely moved since. The protocol’s whole stablecoin turnover stands at $847 million, and the historic chart exhibits that the majority of this quantity collected earlier than the sanctions interval.

But the demand for stablecoin privateness didn’t disappear. It moved. Railgun’s stablecoin quantity grew from close to zero to over $1.5 billion, with the sharpest acceleration occurring within the interval between late 2022 and early 2026. zkBOB confirmed the same trajectory, rising to $1.59 billion over the identical interval. What’s vital is that after OFAC lifted the Tornado Cash sanctions in March 2025, the amount didn’t return to Tornado Cash. The post-sanctions stablecoin charts for Tornado Cash present continued sluggish development from DAI, however nothing near the tempo of Railgun or zkBOB. Meanwhile, Railgun and zkBOB continued their steep upward curves. Users who migrated to different protocols in the course of the sanctions interval seem to have stayed.

The timeline under illustrates the shift. Two occasions, the imposition and elimination of sanctions, divide the chart into three distinct durations, every telling a unique a part of the story.

This has three implications for the trade:

First, sanctions had been efficient at disrupting a selected protocol, however not at lowering total privateness protocol utilization. The whole quantity throughout all protocols now exceeds $4.2 billion — excess of Tornado Cash ever processed alone.

Second, person migration is sticky. Once customers discover an alternate privateness protocol that meets their wants, they don’t return to the unique even after the regulatory danger is eliminated. This is according to how expertise adoption works extra broadly: switching prices are high, and as soon as customers construct familiarity with new instruments, inertia retains them there.

Third, post-sanctions compliance danger persists. Even although Tornado Cash is now not sanctioned, its person base has shifted. New stablecoin exercise in Tornado Cash is minimal. But the historic $847 million in cumulative quantity nonetheless exists on-chain, and transactions that touched Tornado Cash in the course of the sanctions interval carry a unique regulatory profile than these earlier than or after. Compliance groups want to tell apart between historic and present publicity — the dashboard’s time-series information makes that doable.

4. The zkBOB Concentration Risk: $1.5 Billion in a Single Asset

zkBOB is the biggest protocol by cumulative stablecoin quantity ($1.59 billion), however this headline determine obscures an necessary element: 94.5% of that quantity — $1.5 billion — is a single asset, USDT.

Figure 6. Stablecoin Diversification Comparison: zkBOB vs. Railgun. Both protocols course of roughly $1.6B in cumulative quantity, however zkBOB is dependent upon a single asset (94.5% USDT), whereas Railgun maintains a balanced combine throughout three stablecoins. Data supply: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

The protocol’s native stablecoin, BOB, accounts for under $19.9 million (1.3% of whole quantity). USDC provides $68.3 million (4.3%). This means zkBOB is, from a sensible standpoint, a USDT privateness protocol with incidental help for different property. This focus carries a number of dangers. If Tether had been to undertake a extra aggressive blacklisting posture towards addresses related to privateness protocols — or if Tether had been pressured by regulators to take action — zkBOB can be disproportionately affected. Unlike Railgun, which has a diversified stablecoin base (42% USDT, 36% USDC, 22% DAI), zkBOB has virtually no buffer.

It additionally carries an analytical implication. When a compliance workforce flags a transaction for zkBOB publicity, the asset is nearly definitely USDT. This makes zkBOB publicity functionally predictable, which is beneficial for danger scoring: it permits compliance groups to use USDT-specific danger components (reminiscent of the upper chance of Tether enforcement motion) alongside the privateness protocol danger issue. For comparability, Railgun presents the other sample — a broadly diversified stablecoin base throughout three main property, none of which exceeds 42% of whole quantity. This diversification makes Railgun extra resilient to single-issuer danger, but in addition makes publicity to Railgun much less predictable from a stablecoin perspective.

The distinction turns into stark when the 2 protocols’ stablecoin compositions are positioned aspect by aspect.

5. Where Stablecoins Flow: USDC and USDT Tell Opposite Stories

One of essentially the most analytically vital findings within the dashboard information emerges once you examine how USDC and USDT distribute throughout privateness protocols. The two stablecoins comply with virtually completely inverse patterns, and the distinction reveals two basically totally different person segments inside privateness infrastructure.

USDC: Gravitating Toward Compliance

USDC is issued by Circle, an organization that has publicly positioned itself as compliance-first. Circle holds state cash transmitter licenses, cooperates with regulation enforcement, and has filed for an IPO. Its stablecoin freezing strategy is conservative relative to Tether, fewer addresses frozen, decrease whole worth, and usually triggered by express courtroom orders or sanctions designations.

Given this profile, you would possibly anticipate USDC to keep away from privateness infrastructure fully. But the information exhibits the other: USDC has a significant presence in privateness protocols — totaling over $676 million in cumulative quantity. More importantly, its distribution is closely skewed towards protocols with compliance mechanisms:

Figure 5. USDC and USDT Distribution throughout Privacy Protocols. USDC concentrates in compliance-screened protocols, reaching 81% of Privacy Pools 0xBow’s quantity. Data Source: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

• Railgun: $565M (36% of Railgun’s Total Volume) — protocol with Proofs of Innocence screening.
• zkBOB: $68.3M (4.3% of zkBOB’s Total) — minimal share in a USDT-dominated protocol.
• Hinkal: $37.3M (53% of Hinkal’s Total) — majority asset in a KYC-gated protocol.
• Privacy Pools 0xBow: $3.7M (81% of Privacy Pools’ whole) — dominant asset in essentially the most compliance-oriented protocol.
• Tornado Cash: $1.8M (0.2% of Tornado Cash’s Total) — successfully absent.

The sample: as protocol compliance will increase, USDC’s share will increase with it. In essentially the most screened protocol (Privacy Pools 0xBow), USDC accounts for 81% of all quantity. In the least screened (Tornado Cash), it accounts for 0.2%.

USDT: Gravitating Toward Volume and Privacy Without Screening

USDT, issued by Tether, dominates total privateness infrastructure at 52.1% of whole quantity. But its distribution follows the other sample to USDC:

Figure 6. USDC and USDT Distribution throughout Privacy Protocols.  USDT concentrates in unscreened protocols, with $1.5B (94.5%) flowing by means of zkBOB alone. The inverse sample reveals two distinct person segments inside privateness infrastructure. Data Source: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

• zkBOB: $1,500M (94.5% of zkBOB’s Total) — excessive focus in a protocol with out compliance screening.
• Railgun: $667M (42.3% of Railgun’s Total) — vital presence, however balanced with different property.
• Hinkal: $20.6M (29.3% of Hinkal’s Total) — minority share in a KYC-gated protocol.
• Tornado Cash: $3.7M (0.4% of Tornado Cash’s Total) — minimal, however Tornado Cash is DAI-dominated for various causes.
• Privacy Pools 0xBow: $0.7M (15.5% of Privacy Pools’ Total) — small share in essentially the most compliance-oriented protocol.

Where USDC concentrates in compliance-screened protocols, USDT concentrates in unscreened ones. The $1.5 billion USDT movement by means of zkBOB alone, a protocol with no compliance mechanisms, represents the only largest stablecoin movement in all of privateness infrastructure.

This will not be coincidental. USDT holders face the next baseline freezing danger, which creates a stronger incentive to route transactions by means of privateness protocols. And as a result of these customers are looking for safety from issuer-level enforcement fairly than regulatory compliance, they gravitate towards protocols that supply most privateness — no matter whether or not these protocols display screen for illicit exercise.

The two charts aspect by aspect inform a narrative that neither tells alone: privateness infrastructure serves no less than two distinct person segments. The first phase, seen within the USDC information, needs privateness inside regulatory bounds. These customers select compliance-screened protocols and use a stablecoin from a regulated issuer. Their doubtless motivations embody defending buying and selling methods, shielding wage funds, or sustaining monetary privateness with out creating regulatory publicity.

The second phase, seen within the USDT information, needs privateness from issuer-level enforcement. These customers focus in high-volume, unscreened protocols and use the stablecoin with the best freezing danger. Their motivations could vary from professional considerations about aggressive Tether enforcement to illicit fund motion, the information alone can not distinguish between these.

For compliance groups, this discovering has a direct sensible software: the stablecoin in a flagged transaction is itself a danger sign. USDC flowing by means of Railgun or Privacy Pools carries a unique danger profile than USDT flowing by means of zkBOB, and inner danger fashions ought to replicate that distinction.

6. Privacy Pools 0xBow: Early Signals of a Paradigm Shift

Privacy Pools 0xBow is by far the smallest protocol on the dashboard by quantity ($4.6 million cumulative), however its development trajectory and asset composition make it value watching intently.

The protocol launched in mid-2025 and spent its first a number of months processing modest volumes — roughly $100K–$300K monthly between July and October 2025. Then, beginning in November 2025, volumes started accelerating: $1.3M in December, $3M+ in January 2026, and $3.5M+ in each February and March 2026. In relative phrases, that’s a 30-40x enhance in month-to-month quantity over six months.

The development trajectory, proven under, reveals a transparent inflection level in late 2025.

Figure 8. Monthly stablecoin quantity by means of Privacy Pools 0xBow since launch. Volume grew roughly 30–40x between July 2025 and March 2026, with USDC accounting for 81% of all exercise — suggesting that the protocol attracts primarily compliance-oriented customers. Data supply: AMLBot Dune Dashboard, March 2026.

What makes this development vital will not be absolutely the numbers, $4.6M is modest by privateness protocol requirements, however what it suggests about unmet demand. 

Before Privacy Pools launched, there was no protocol particularly designed to supply privateness with built-in compliance screening. The proven fact that it attracted quantity instantly, and that quantity is accelerating, signifies {that a} phase of the market was ready for precisely this sort of device. If the present trajectory holds, Privacy Pools may grow to be a significant information level within the dashboard inside the subsequent 12 months — and a reference case for the way compliance-by-design privateness protocols carry out relative to their unscreened counterparts.

7. Stablecoin–Protocol Combinations as a Risk Scoring Framework

Taking the above findings collectively, the dashboard information allows a sensible danger calibration framework based mostly on the noticed relationship between stablecoin kind, protocol kind, and person habits patterns.

Combination	Suggested Risk Tier	Rationale
DAI + Tornado Cash or Aztec	Higher	No compliance screening. 99–100% DAI focus signifies customers particularly chosen a non-freezable asset in an unscreened atmosphere + historic sanctions publicity (TC).
USDT + zkBOB	Elevated	Largest single stablecoin movement in privateness infrastructure ($1.5B). ZK-based privateness with out compliance mechanisms. Extreme single-asset focus.
USDT/DAI + Railgun	Moderate	Proof of Innocence mechanism supplies some screening, however protocol doesn’t require KYC. Diversified stablecoin base suggests blended person intent.
USDC + Railgun	Moderate-Lower	USDC’s presence ($565M) in a protocol with compliance screening suggests privacy-seeking customers who stay inside regulatory norms.
USDC/USDT + Hinkal	Moderate-Lower	KYC-gated entry restricts pool individuals. Institutional positioning.
USDC + Privacy Pools 0xBow	Lower (Relative)	Active ASP deposit screening. Compliance-by-design structure. USDC dominance (81%) signifies regulated-segment customers.

It’s necessary to notice that “Lower Risk” doesn’t imply “NO Risk.” Any privateness protocol interplay introduces an info hole within the transaction chain, which is inherently a compliance concern underneath Travel Rule necessities. The matrix above helps distinguish the diploma of concern — not whether or not concern is warranted in any respect. 

Additionally, these danger tiers replicate the information noticed on the time of study. Protocol mechanisms can change, stablecoin issuer insurance policies can evolve, and person habits shifts over time. Compliance groups ought to deal with this as a residing framework, calibrated recurrently towards up to date dashboard information.

How Compliance Teams Can Use These Findings

Under the EU’s MiCA Regulation and the Travel Rule, there’s a requirement to establish and transmit originator and beneficiary information with each crypto switch. When a part of a transaction’s historical past contains interplay with a privateness protocol, that creates a spot within the info chain. The Travel Rule information actually doesn’t exist for the shielded portion. Compliance groups have to resolve what to do with that hole. The analytical findings above level to a number of concrete methods to calibrate that response.

1. Use the stablecoin as a danger sign, not simply the protocol. As proven in Sections 1 and 5, the stablecoin in a flagged transaction is itself informative. USDC flowing by means of Railgun or Privacy Pools suggests a compliance-conscious person looking for privateness inside regulatory bounds. DAI flowing by means of Tornado Cash suggests a person who particularly selected a non-freezable asset in an unscreened atmosphere. Internal danger fashions ought to replicate this distinction — a blanket “privateness protocol publicity = high danger” strategy fails to distinguish between basically totally different person behaviors.
2. Distinguish between historic and present Tornado Cash publicity. As Section 3 demonstrates, Tornado Cash’s stablecoin exercise has been successfully flat since August 2022. The new quantity is minimal. But $847 million in historic quantity nonetheless exists on-chain. A transaction that touched Tornado Cash in 2021 carries a unique profile than one from 2025 — the dashboard’s time-series information makes it doable to evaluate when the publicity occurred, not simply that it occurred.
3. Account for protocol-level compliance mechanisms in danger scoring. Not all privateness protocols are equal. Railgun screens towards identified illicit addresses. Hinkal requires KYC. Privacy Pools 0xBow actively rejects deposits linked to sanctioned or legal exercise. Tornado Cash and zkBOB haven’t any such mechanisms. Exposure to a screened protocol could warrant commonplace evaluation; publicity to an unscreened protocol could warrant Enhanced Due Diligence. The danger matrix in Section 7 supplies a data-driven baseline for this calibration.
4. Monitor focus danger in particular protocol–asset pairs. As Section 4 exhibits, zkBOB processes $1.5 billion in USDT with no compliance screening — the only largest stablecoin movement in privateness infrastructure. If your trade sees vital zkBOB-exposed USDT deposits, that warrants heightened consideration not as a result of the protocol is sanctioned, however due to the dimensions and lack of screening concerned.
5. Watch rising protocols for shifts in person habits. Privacy Pools 0xBow is small in the present day ($4.6M), however its 30–40x development trajectory (Section 6) suggests a brand new class is forming. As compliance-by-design instruments achieve quantity, danger fashions will want a brand new tier — one which accounts for protocols the place illicit deposits are actively excluded fairly than passively accepted.

The dashboard doesn’t make these compliance choices for you. But it offers you the information (and the analytical framework) to make them with precision as an alternative of guesswork.

Related AMLBot Research

This dashboard is a part of AMLBot’s broader on-chain analysis program. Related reviews and instruments embody:

• Stablecoin Freezes 2023–2025: USDT vs USDC Data Analysis — evaluation of how Tether and Circle use freezing mechanisms, masking 7,268 blacklisted USDT addresses and $3.29B in frozen property versus 372 USDC addresses and $109M frozen.
• Comprehensive Analysis of Stablecoin Transfers, Compliance, and Ecosystem Dynamics — a broader research of stablecoin utilization patterns, holder habits, and Travel Rule enforcement challenges.
• Crypto Crime Report 2025–2026 — insights from 2,500+ actual post-incident investigations, together with how stolen funds are laundered by means of privateness protocols and different obfuscation strategies.

What Comes Next

This evaluation displays dashboard information as of March 2026. The dashboard updates mechanically as new on-chain information turns into out there, and AMLBot continues so as to add new protocols and stablecoins as they achieve significant quantity. As the privateness protocol panorama evolves — by means of new instruments, regulatory shifts, and adjustments in issuer enforcement — the patterns recognized right here will evolve with it. We will replace this evaluation periodically as the information warrants.

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