4 ms·

Well, Bitfinex uses Deltec as their bank. A bank that claimed at the start of this year that they were "55 years old and whose customers were predominantly asse

Well, Bitfinex uses Deltec as their bank. A bank that claimed at the start of this year that they were "55 years old and whose customers were predominantly asset managers and high net worth individuals", until they did a website redesign (more on that below) and overnight were "70 years old". A bank that had a 33 year old "Deputy CEO" who gave interviews from his gaming rig. Who claimed to have graduated from HEC Lausanne in Switzerland with a Masters in Science when he was 15... and then immediately get a job as Professor of Finance at a Lebanese university... while dividing his time between running funds in Switzerland and oh ... Jacksonville Florida (actually, that last part is the most believable), where he worked for himself, managing a fund that he couldn't even spell correctly on his own LinkedIn profile (Independance[sic] Weath[sic] Management). Of course, the last interview he gave, the bank removed him from their website within hours once the ridicule started piling on. When people started questioning that, they very quickly re-added him. And then removed the site entirely. And put up a WordPress template website with completely non functional links and buttons a few days later. I keep waiting for Yakety Sax to start playing, but to the true believers, it never does, and apparently all us nay-sayers are just neanderthal and don't see "the vision".

torgoguys 5y ago
Sounds like a dumpster fire. The 55 years old/70 year old thing could have some legitimacy, kinda. Banks like to be seen as being very old, implying stability. There is a popular regional bank where I live that was established in the 1970s. But this bank says that it is more than 150 years old. Why? It turns out that it bought out a bank that was founded around 1860. Since that bank is now part of them, they reason, they have a history that goes back that far. Sketchy if you ask me, but apparently legal. (?) If Deltec bought an older bank, then maybe they are using the same justification.
wpietri 5y ago
> I keep waiting for Yakety Sax to start playing, but to the true believers, it never does, and apparently all us nay-sayers are just neanderthal and don't see "the vision". It reminds me of the initial dot-com bubble, where anybody who asked questions was also painted as not getting it. Ditto the mortgage bubble, come to think of it. Then when the inevitable crash comes, nobody apologizes. It's either "who could have known" or just moving on to the next grift and never saying another word.
- hef19898 5y ago
  Not that nobody apologizes, more often than not those early warning voices are singled out. Because obviously, having seen it coming, they could have done something to avoid the crash. So of course they are to blame.
- api 5y ago
  I’ve seen this happen in companies with stupid projects. Same thing happened with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Anyone who dares ask questions is ignored, sidelined, or fired. Seems to be a general pattern when there is an economic or policy “bubble” and big players in an organization or sector are holding the bag. Everyone who holds cryptocurrency is holding Tether’s bag of poo. No they are not even the majority of money in cryptocurrency, but they are enough to prop up the price a lot given that it’s a fairly thin market. They are also structured so as to make it very easy to use their funny money to manipulate cryptocurrency price. Their joker CEO sounds like a cutout and fall guy.
  - thebean11 5y ago
    > Everyone who holds cryptocurrency is holding Tether’s bag of poo. Or they recognize you can't time the market, and see upside despite a nearly-inevitable tether crash? If investors had been waiting for tether to crash they would have missed the run from $1k - $30+k, and I don't think you can claim with a straight face that was all tether manipulation. Again, can't time the market.
    - freewilly1040 5y ago
      What you describe is timing the market though? Specifically, getting in on a run with confidence you can get out before the crash.
      - thebean11 5y ago
        No definitely not assuming you can get out before the crash. I'm talking about longer term investors who see the Tether crash as temporary, not a permanent end to crypto.
smoyer 5y ago
Wow ... I'm realizing what a completely unremarkable education and career I have. I've been a CTO twice but perhaps this shows what it would take to be a deputy CEO.
- hedberg10 5y ago
  Well, I'll have you know I graduated summa cum laude from Lemönade Ständ Universität, which is a very prestigious institution in Luxemburg, when I was 6.
  - smoyer 5y ago
    Whoa ... I can tell it's prestigious because it has three accented letters in its name!
  - Cthulhu_ 5y ago
    I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I'm the top sniper in the entire US armed forces.
    - jvilleBrat 5y ago
      I once single-handedly beat an entire US armed force at an arm-wrestling tournament.

torgoguys 5y ago

Sounds like a dumpster fire. The 55 years old/70 year old thing could have some legitimacy, kinda. Banks like to be seen as being very old, implying stability. There is a popular regional bank where I live that was established in the 1970s. But this bank says that it is more than 150 years old. Why? It turns out that it bought out a bank that was founded around 1860. Since that bank is now part of them, they reason, they have a history that goes back that far. Sketchy if you ask me, but apparently legal. (?) If Deltec bought an older bank, then maybe they are using the same justification.

wpietri 5y ago

> I keep waiting for Yakety Sax to start playing, but to the true believers, it never does, and apparently all us nay-sayers are just neanderthal and don't see "the vision". It reminds me of the initial dot-com bubble, where anybody who asked questions was also painted as not getting it. Ditto the mortgage bubble, come to think of it. Then when the inevitable crash comes, nobody apologizes. It's either "who could have known" or just moving on to the next grift and never saying another word.

hef19898 5y ago
Not that nobody apologizes, more often than not those early warning voices are singled out. Because obviously, having seen it coming, they could have done something to avoid the crash. So of course they are to blame.
api 5y ago
I’ve seen this happen in companies with stupid projects. Same thing happened with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Anyone who dares ask questions is ignored, sidelined, or fired. Seems to be a general pattern when there is an economic or policy “bubble” and big players in an organization or sector are holding the bag. Everyone who holds cryptocurrency is holding Tether’s bag of poo. No they are not even the majority of money in cryptocurrency, but they are enough to prop up the price a lot given that it’s a fairly thin market. They are also structured so as to make it very easy to use their funny money to manipulate cryptocurrency price. Their joker CEO sounds like a cutout and fall guy.
- thebean11 5y ago
  > Everyone who holds cryptocurrency is holding Tether’s bag of poo. Or they recognize you can't time the market, and see upside despite a nearly-inevitable tether crash? If investors had been waiting for tether to crash they would have missed the run from $1k - $30+k, and I don't think you can claim with a straight face that was all tether manipulation. Again, can't time the market.
  - freewilly1040 5y ago
    What you describe is timing the market though? Specifically, getting in on a run with confidence you can get out before the crash.
    - thebean11 5y ago
      No definitely not assuming you can get out before the crash. I'm talking about longer term investors who see the Tether crash as temporary, not a permanent end to crypto.

smoyer 5y ago

Wow ... I'm realizing what a completely unremarkable education and career I have. I've been a CTO twice but perhaps this shows what it would take to be a deputy CEO.

hedberg10 5y ago
Well, I'll have you know I graduated summa cum laude from Lemönade Ständ Universität, which is a very prestigious institution in Luxemburg, when I was 6.
- smoyer 5y ago
  Whoa ... I can tell it's prestigious because it has three accented letters in its name!
- Cthulhu_ 5y ago
  I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I'm the top sniper in the entire US armed forces.
  - jvilleBrat 5y ago
    I once single-handedly beat an entire US armed force at an arm-wrestling tournament.