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The difference is, of course, that exchanges want to encourage liquidity in USDT and they might not have the means to offer USD, especially if they're based in

The difference is, of course, that exchanges want to encourage liquidity in USDT and they might not have the means to offer USD, especially if they're based in regions with tighter regulations so bank wires are out of the question. Just because they can convert USDT to USD doesn't necessarily mean they can offer the same means to everybody else. Even the staunchest believer in crypto will have a hunch there's something funny going on with Tether, but so far most people have been willing to look the other way as Tether and other stablecoins answer a genuine need: how to represent fiat money in the crypto ecosystem when centralized banks refuse to play along with their own downfall.

gruez 5y ago
> The difference is, of course, that exchanges want to encourage liquidity in USDT and they might not have the means to offer USD, especially if they're based in regions with tighter regulations so bank wires are out of the question. Just because they can convert USDT to USD doesn't necessarily mean they can offer the same means to everybody else. 1. is paying influencers USDT going to increase liquidity or decrease it? From a maker-taker model, I'd think that will decrease liquidity because those influencers are probably going to place a market order which reduces liquidity. 2. Is the typical influencers (or the average influencer they hired) going to have trouble converting USDT to USD? My profile of them would be 18-35 year old, middle to upper class, living in a developed country (or at least not a country that's subject to USD sanctions). It doesn't seem hard for those people to accept a USD wire transfer. >Even the staunchest believer in crypto will have a hunch there's something funny going on with Tether, but so far most people have been willing to look the other way as Tether and other stablecoins answer a genuine need: how to represent fiat money in the crypto ecosystem when centralized banks refuse to play along with their own downfall. Agreed, I avoid holding USDT where possible.
bb88 5y ago
> how to represent fiat money in the crypto ecosystem when centralized banks refuse to play along with their own downfall. It seems to me the crypto folks on one hand complain about the governance of USD, but then also "need" it to stabilize their own currency. I thought crypto was the currency of the future.

gruez 5y ago

> The difference is, of course, that exchanges want to encourage liquidity in USDT and they might not have the means to offer USD, especially if they're based in regions with tighter regulations so bank wires are out of the question. Just because they can convert USDT to USD doesn't necessarily mean they can offer the same means to everybody else. 1. is paying influencers USDT going to increase liquidity or decrease it? From a maker-taker model, I'd think that will decrease liquidity because those influencers are probably going to place a market order which reduces liquidity. 2. Is the typical influencers (or the average influencer they hired) going to have trouble converting USDT to USD? My profile of them would be 18-35 year old, middle to upper class, living in a developed country (or at least not a country that's subject to USD sanctions). It doesn't seem hard for those people to accept a USD wire transfer. >Even the staunchest believer in crypto will have a hunch there's something funny going on with Tether, but so far most people have been willing to look the other way as Tether and other stablecoins answer a genuine need: how to represent fiat money in the crypto ecosystem when centralized banks refuse to play along with their own downfall. Agreed, I avoid holding USDT where possible.

bb88 5y ago

> how to represent fiat money in the crypto ecosystem when centralized banks refuse to play along with their own downfall. It seems to me the crypto folks on one hand complain about the governance of USD, but then also "need" it to stabilize their own currency. I thought crypto was the currency of the future.