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>Tether usually has 2-3x the volume of bitcoin in any given day. And no one seems to know anything about how it works. I think these are both bad arguments. If

by Tenoke 5y ago

>Tether usually has 2-3x the volume of bitcoin in any given day. And no one seems to know anything about how it works. I think these are both bad arguments. If the most used stablecoin is used for most BTC volume as well as other crypto trades, you'd expect it to be more. >. And no one seems to know anything about how it works What? People do know how it works, or at least as much as with many other projects.

gjsman-1000 5y ago
Nobody knows where the USD supposedly backing it goes. Most of it is in “commercial paper” they said, but the investors who work in that industry say they’ve never heard of them. This seems impossible because at their scale, that would make them, like, the 5th largest commercial paper investor on Wall Street. How could commercial paper investors not heard of them?
- johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
  >Nobody knows where the USD supposedly backing it goes. Every single time that ifinex was upfront about where the money was going, their bank accounts would be closed with little notice. I can understand why they would stay tight lipped about where they are stashing $60B+.
  - EpicEng 5y ago
    Well they're currently being accused of fraud for misleading banks, so...
- scsilver 5y ago
  I dont think it matters to people who really use tether. If you cant buy usd due to capital controls, usdt is your other accissible option. As such its seemed to retain its user's opinion that it continues to track the dollar, even when its not backed directly and or backed insufficiently by other assets. Its a tool that has value, beyond its intrinsic value.
  - user-the-name 5y ago
    The thing is, it does not matter only to those who use it. Basically all trading of Bitcoin is not actually in USD, it is in Tethers. The polite fiction is that this is the same thing, but there are a million red flags saying that this is not the case. Once Tether implodes, it takes the entire bitcoin market with it.
    - scsilver 5y ago
      I was looking at the usdc, vs tether, vs dai market caps over the last few weeks. Tether seemed to have stopped printing as usdc has continued to grow. https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/usd-coin/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/usd-coin/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/multi-collateral-dai/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/multi-collateral-dai/ Tether is at 60billion market cap compared to Usdc 30 billion and dai around 5 billion. Should probably look at volumes aswell. I think we would get a major crash if tether fails, but I also think it will recover with usdc and other stable coins that have more legitimacy. For now, its a house of cards that no one can really afford to remove their stake from. Those who have to use tether, are in a very precarious position.
      - jfrunyon 5y ago
        USDC doesn't have a leg to stand on either and as far as "other stable coins", it's pretty dumb to compete with someone who is able to undercut you on cost, so they're either doing the same or not competitive.
      - ulzeraj 5y ago
        I think there is a possibility of things going the other way around of what grand parent is expecting. Once USDT implodes there will be a bank run to sell those tokens for fiat, bitcoin, Ethereum or even other stable coins. That until exchanges cease accepting those or doing trades at all. Some might become insolvent. In the end people who leave their funds at exchanges will be the one with the short end of the stick.
- jfrunyon 5y ago
  'Cause it's commercial paper from the exchanges? We know they've made "loans" to Bitfinex, after all.
  - gjsman-1000 5y ago
    They have adamantly declared that these are not loans to exchanges. That's one of the few things we know.
    - cycrutchfield 5y ago
      With the track record these guys have, the more adamantly they declare something the more you may be justified in suspecting that it is false or at least only superficially true.
    - jfrunyon 5y ago
      Cool, but again, we also know they've done it, contrary to their declarations.

by Tenoke 5y ago

gjsman-1000 5y ago

Nobody knows where the USD supposedly backing it goes. Most of it is in “commercial paper” they said, but the investors who work in that industry say they’ve never heard of them. This seems impossible because at their scale, that would make them, like, the 5th largest commercial paper investor on Wall Street. How could commercial paper investors not heard of them?

johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
>Nobody knows where the USD supposedly backing it goes. Every single time that ifinex was upfront about where the money was going, their bank accounts would be closed with little notice. I can understand why they would stay tight lipped about where they are stashing $60B+.
- EpicEng 5y ago
  Well they're currently being accused of fraud for misleading banks, so...
scsilver 5y ago
I dont think it matters to people who really use tether. If you cant buy usd due to capital controls, usdt is your other accissible option. As such its seemed to retain its user's opinion that it continues to track the dollar, even when its not backed directly and or backed insufficiently by other assets. Its a tool that has value, beyond its intrinsic value.
- user-the-name 5y ago
  The thing is, it does not matter only to those who use it. Basically all trading of Bitcoin is not actually in USD, it is in Tethers. The polite fiction is that this is the same thing, but there are a million red flags saying that this is not the case. Once Tether implodes, it takes the entire bitcoin market with it.
  - scsilver 5y ago
    I was looking at the usdc, vs tether, vs dai market caps over the last few weeks. Tether seemed to have stopped printing as usdc has continued to grow. https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/usd-coin/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/usd-coin/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/multi-collateral-dai/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/multi-collateral-dai/ Tether is at 60billion market cap compared to Usdc 30 billion and dai around 5 billion. Should probably look at volumes aswell. I think we would get a major crash if tether fails, but I also think it will recover with usdc and other stable coins that have more legitimacy. For now, its a house of cards that no one can really afford to remove their stake from. Those who have to use tether, are in a very precarious position.
    - jfrunyon 5y ago
      USDC doesn't have a leg to stand on either and as far as "other stable coins", it's pretty dumb to compete with someone who is able to undercut you on cost, so they're either doing the same or not competitive.
    - ulzeraj 5y ago
      I think there is a possibility of things going the other way around of what grand parent is expecting. Once USDT implodes there will be a bank run to sell those tokens for fiat, bitcoin, Ethereum or even other stable coins. That until exchanges cease accepting those or doing trades at all. Some might become insolvent. In the end people who leave their funds at exchanges will be the one with the short end of the stick.
jfrunyon 5y ago
'Cause it's commercial paper from the exchanges? We know they've made "loans" to Bitfinex, after all.
- gjsman-1000 5y ago
  They have adamantly declared that these are not loans to exchanges. That's one of the few things we know.
  - cycrutchfield 5y ago
    With the track record these guys have, the more adamantly they declare something the more you may be justified in suspecting that it is false or at least only superficially true.
  - jfrunyon 5y ago
    Cool, but again, we also know they've done it, contrary to their declarations.