A 44-minute delay in Tether’s process of freezing $78 million worth of USDT linked to illicit activity has raised concerns about the stability and transparency of stablecoin operations. This enforcement gap, observed on both the Ethereum and Tron blockchains, highlights potential vulnerabilities in Tether’s controls. While Tether claims it collaborated with over 255 global agencies in this process and that they have previously frozen over $2.7 billion in illicit funds, this delay raises questions about the robustness of their system. The enforcement delay allows for significant USDT transfers before subsequent freezing by Tether’s multi-signature governance structure. This situation has raised concerns about the potential impact on DeFi applications and exchanges reliant on USDT liquidity. Institutions and investors will likely pay close attention to Tether’s enforcement process in the coming weeks, as they seek clarity on Tether’s commitment to combating illicit activity.