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> If I want a super-duper legit stablecoin, I'd use USDC They are morphing into Tether. Look at recent legal structure change, attestations, reserves breakdown

> If I want a super-duper legit stablecoin, I'd use USDC They are morphing into Tether. Look at recent legal structure change, attestations, reserves breakdown, etc. But your core premise (Tether as a dollar substitute for the unbankable) is predicated on there being two states of the universe (USD in risky places vs. Tether) which isn't true and ignores the key issue: all of those Tethers may not hold any value. In the real world, Tether is not the only alternative, nor is USDC. For instance, the Sci-Hub founder can hold any other major currency or frankly any non USD asset. The crypto world constantly create false equivalencies to justify their casino. Fiat sucks long term? Yeah, by design...money velocity is a good thing, you shouldn't be holding cash, and few people do. This is why there are trillion dollar markets for other productive assets, like equities.

dannyw 5y ago
The Sci-Hub founder can hold any other major crypto, sure, but it's volatile. How do you propose she allow international donations? Via a SWIFT bank account? Via cash in the mail to a postal address? The easiest and most liquid mechanism is for people like her to accept crypto donations (e.g. Bitcoin), and convert it to non-KYC stablecoins like USDT so the purchasing power is preserved. It's not hard to explain the 60B market cap when you combine "non-KYC" and "stablecoin", and if you believe it's not backed by anything, you can open a short on USDT right now, using DeFi like Compound. Your upside is 100%, your downside is the cost of borrowing (about a few percentage a year). The market believes $1 = 1 USDT, with a volume of $53 billion in the past 24 hours.
- qeternity 5y ago
  > The Sci-Hub founder can hold any other major crypto, sure, but it's volatile. Why do you guys do this? It's so painful speaking with crypto die-hards. I said she could hold any other major currency, which of course implies fiat. How about EUR? How about CHF? How about GBP? I don't know enough about her but hell she could hold RUB...still less volatile than crypto. > How do you propose she allow international donations? That's her problem. This goes with the territory of running an illegal website, no matter how idealistic you find her cause. But basically once again, crypto's primary use-case (as you've outlined) is skirting laws. That's fine, it's a real use-case. But just quit pretending that crypto is the future of money. > It's not hard to explain the 60B market cap when you combine "non-KYC" and "stablecoin", and if you believe it's not backed by anything, you can open a short on USDT right now, using DeFi like Compound. Your upside is 100%, your downside is the cost of borrowing (about a few percentage a year). I agree, it's very easy to explain. That's what this video is all about. As for shorting USDT, that's about the dumbest thing you could do, and your DeFi example is absolutely naive. I want to be short USDTUSD...I can't do that in DeFi. I can be short Tether against something else whose value at the moment is determined by circulating Tethers. If you think DAI survives a Tether implosion, you're dreaming. And if it did, I still need a fiat offramp and if you think Coinbase is a good counterparty in that scenario, well then I am beginning to understand you a little bit. In my career as a hedge fund trader, I don't think I've come across a worse trade than shorting USDT. > The market believes $1 = 1 USDT, with a volume of $53 billion in the past 24 hours. Yes, and? If the market didn't believe this, then there wouldn't be a story here.

dannyw 5y ago

The Sci-Hub founder can hold any other major crypto, sure, but it's volatile. How do you propose she allow international donations? Via a SWIFT bank account? Via cash in the mail to a postal address? The easiest and most liquid mechanism is for people like her to accept crypto donations (e.g. Bitcoin), and convert it to non-KYC stablecoins like USDT so the purchasing power is preserved. It's not hard to explain the 60B market cap when you combine "non-KYC" and "stablecoin", and if you believe it's not backed by anything, you can open a short on USDT right now, using DeFi like Compound. Your upside is 100%, your downside is the cost of borrowing (about a few percentage a year). The market believes $1 = 1 USDT, with a volume of $53 billion in the past 24 hours.

qeternity 5y ago
> The Sci-Hub founder can hold any other major crypto, sure, but it's volatile. Why do you guys do this? It's so painful speaking with crypto die-hards. I said she could hold any other major currency, which of course implies fiat. How about EUR? How about CHF? How about GBP? I don't know enough about her but hell she could hold RUB...still less volatile than crypto. > How do you propose she allow international donations? That's her problem. This goes with the territory of running an illegal website, no matter how idealistic you find her cause. But basically once again, crypto's primary use-case (as you've outlined) is skirting laws. That's fine, it's a real use-case. But just quit pretending that crypto is the future of money. > It's not hard to explain the 60B market cap when you combine "non-KYC" and "stablecoin", and if you believe it's not backed by anything, you can open a short on USDT right now, using DeFi like Compound. Your upside is 100%, your downside is the cost of borrowing (about a few percentage a year). I agree, it's very easy to explain. That's what this video is all about. As for shorting USDT, that's about the dumbest thing you could do, and your DeFi example is absolutely naive. I want to be short USDTUSD...I can't do that in DeFi. I can be short Tether against something else whose value at the moment is determined by circulating Tethers. If you think DAI survives a Tether implosion, you're dreaming. And if it did, I still need a fiat offramp and if you think Coinbase is a good counterparty in that scenario, well then I am beginning to understand you a little bit. In my career as a hedge fund trader, I don't think I've come across a worse trade than shorting USDT. > The market believes $1 = 1 USDT, with a volume of $53 billion in the past 24 hours. Yes, and? If the market didn't believe this, then there wouldn't be a story here.