I'm sure USDC would like me to think of it as a benign synthetic derivative, but it doesn't feel that way to me. They've moved the goalposts from "dollar backed

I'm sure USDC would like me to think of it as a benign synthetic derivative, but it doesn't feel that way to me. They've moved the goalposts from "dollar backed" to "asset back", which puts the downside risk of those (unknown?) assets on USDC holders, whilst keeping any upside for themselves. A synthetic derivative should have agreed-upon terms, which does not appear to be the case here.