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Thanks for explaining! Is the hope then that a stablecoin is the last step before cash out or that stablecoins would be the more widely accepted for use in the

by dpflan 8y ago

Thanks for explaining! Is the hope then that a stablecoin is the last step before cash out or that stablecoins would be the more widely accepted for use in the "real world" than Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc? As in, stablecoin could actually be more stable if it were deemed acceptable for normal transactions (i.e. don't buy pizza with Bitcoin, buy it with stablecoin X).

defen 8y ago
The sole purpose of Tether is to sell your Bitcoin (or whatever cryptocurrency) for "dollars". The quotes are important because these "dollars" are not real dollars that you can actually do anything with; they're just a number. Imagine if you had a million dollars in your bank account but there was literally no way to use those dollars to purchase any real-world goods or services. That's what tethers are. Why would you do this? Maybe you think Bitcoin prices are going to drop and you want to "lock in" your dollar value. When you want to actually get real dollars, you have to use your tethers to purchase Bitcoin, then transfer the bitcoin to a real exchange that does real KYC (Gemini, Coinbase, etc), then sell on that exchange for real dollars, which can then get transferred to a real bank account.
- tim333 8y ago
  You can change your USDT to real USD at Kraken.
  - defen 8y ago
    Good to know! I assume they do proper KYC? Do they exchange at 1:1 or do they take a percentage?
    - nostrademons 8y ago
      It's a market, but has generally been trading (and continues to trade) at very close to 1:1. It broke the peg last November when there were rumors then of Tether's insolvency, going to down $0.85:1 at one point.
    - tim333 8y ago
      Proper KYC, regulated, based in SF, competitive rates. Just now they quote $0.9694. Usually it's nearer $1 but I guess people are selling a bit. Commission is like 0.16%.
      - ac29 8y ago
        It should be noted that that are not registered with the State of New York, and have already been subject to investigation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken_(company)#New_York_Attorney_General_Inquiry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken_(company)#New_York_Atto...
tim333 8y ago
Using a stablecoin to buy pizza is a theoretical application which has yet to happen to the best of my knowledge. Facebook is rumoured to be working on a stablecoin currency which might bring regular use to consumers, perhaps.

by dpflan 8y ago

defen 8y ago

The sole purpose of Tether is to sell your Bitcoin (or whatever cryptocurrency) for "dollars". The quotes are important because these "dollars" are not real dollars that you can actually do anything with; they're just a number. Imagine if you had a million dollars in your bank account but there was literally no way to use those dollars to purchase any real-world goods or services. That's what tethers are. Why would you do this? Maybe you think Bitcoin prices are going to drop and you want to "lock in" your dollar value. When you want to actually get real dollars, you have to use your tethers to purchase Bitcoin, then transfer the bitcoin to a real exchange that does real KYC (Gemini, Coinbase, etc), then sell on that exchange for real dollars, which can then get transferred to a real bank account.

tim333 8y ago
You can change your USDT to real USD at Kraken.
- defen 8y ago
  Good to know! I assume they do proper KYC? Do they exchange at 1:1 or do they take a percentage?
  - nostrademons 8y ago
    It's a market, but has generally been trading (and continues to trade) at very close to 1:1. It broke the peg last November when there were rumors then of Tether's insolvency, going to down $0.85:1 at one point.
  - tim333 8y ago
    Proper KYC, regulated, based in SF, competitive rates. Just now they quote $0.9694. Usually it's nearer $1 but I guess people are selling a bit. Commission is like 0.16%.
    - ac29 8y ago
      It should be noted that that are not registered with the State of New York, and have already been subject to investigation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken_(company)#New_York_Attorney_General_Inquiry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken_(company)#New_York_Atto...

tim333 8y ago

Using a stablecoin to buy pizza is a theoretical application which has yet to happen to the best of my knowledge. Facebook is rumoured to be working on a stablecoin currency which might bring regular use to consumers, perhaps.