One reason that roughly nobody tries to redeem, other than the operational issues, opportunity cost of waiting for bank wires, need for a non-US entity, etc. is

One reason that roughly nobody tries to redeem, other than the operational issues, opportunity cost of waiting for bank wires, need for a non-US entity, etc. is that Tether is usually trading at a premium to $1. So when there's profit to be had, it's usually by creating Tethers, not redeeming them.