4 ms·

I am blown away. 61.5 million dollars for $68,536,825,819 (68 billion dollars.) Maybe not the same in 2017 but damn, how does this even work without anyone pani

I am blown away. 61.5 million dollars for $68,536,825,819 (68 billion dollars.) Maybe not the same in 2017 but damn, how does this even work without anyone panicking?

loeg 5y ago
It was something like ~400 million tether at the time, not 68 billion. The recent run-up post-dates the period of this malfeasance (and is probably also fraudulent in some way).
inopinatus 5y ago
It doesn’t, but that’s bubbles for you.
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Banks do the same thing. How do banks work without anybody panicking? Liquidity injections. The government will literally print money and give it to banks so they can fulfill withdrawals during bank runs. If the governments didn't bail them out, they'd be insolvent. They should just do the same for Tether.
- jakeinspace 5y ago
  Banks do not have enough cash on hand to meet their liabilities (deposits), but they are for the most part net-positive over all assets and liabilities. They aren't just burning depositor's money, they're putting it into mortgages and riskier loans. So while they cannot afford a quick payout above 10% of total deposits, the assets are there in the form of loans and securities.
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    The effect is the same: people want to cash out and they can't. The solution is the same: bail out the banks in order to avoid even worse economic impact. I don't see why banks deserve this royal treatment while Tether doesn't. Whether Tether was or wasn't responsible with the money is another matter entirely. I fully support any efforts to hold them accountable for their actions there.
    - throwawaygh 5y ago
      Banks don't get that special treatment for free. They pay for insurance and comply with regulations. Some of those regulations exist to reduce the risks associated with FDIC insurance, and a lot of those regulations exist to force banks to serve important social functions. You can fault banking regulation for not being stringent enough, and I won't argue with you. But I'll never understand how "fuck banks getting special treatment" should ever translate into "therefore wildcat banks are a GREAT idea, right?" Or, to put it another way: I don't want to bail out the big banks; why in fuck's sake would I want to bail out Tether speculators?
      - matheusmoreira 5y ago
        > therefore wildcat banks are a GREAT idea, right? They're not. Cryptocurrency is not even supposed to have banks in the first place! It was supposed to put an end to all that stuff. People should not be exchanging crypto for fiat, they should be transacting directly in crypto. Instead the exchanges became banks and people invented USDT because dealing with USD is hell on earth. There was supposed to be no need to ever deal with USD or any other fiat currency. Everything crypto was invented to solve became integral to the crypto market ... > I don't want to bail out the big banks; why in fuck's sake would I want to bail out Tether speculators? I don't want that either. I want banks to face the consequences of their risk taking. It's never gonna happen though. They'll keep bailing out the banks. So there's no reason they shouldn't do the same for crypto.
- mkr-hn 5y ago
  Banks (in the US) pay fees to the FDIC to insure deposits well past what most people have and are subject to reserve requirements.

I am blown away. 61.5 million dollars for $68,536,825,819 (68 billion dollars.) Maybe not the same in 2017 but damn, how does this even work without anyone panicking?

loeg 5y ago

It was something like ~400 million tether at the time, not 68 billion. The recent run-up post-dates the period of this malfeasance (and is probably also fraudulent in some way).

inopinatus 5y ago

It doesn’t, but that’s bubbles for you.

matheusmoreira 5y ago

Banks do the same thing. How do banks work without anybody panicking? Liquidity injections. The government will literally print money and give it to banks so they can fulfill withdrawals during bank runs. If the governments didn't bail them out, they'd be insolvent. They should just do the same for Tether.

jakeinspace 5y ago
Banks do not have enough cash on hand to meet their liabilities (deposits), but they are for the most part net-positive over all assets and liabilities. They aren't just burning depositor's money, they're putting it into mortgages and riskier loans. So while they cannot afford a quick payout above 10% of total deposits, the assets are there in the form of loans and securities.
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  The effect is the same: people want to cash out and they can't. The solution is the same: bail out the banks in order to avoid even worse economic impact. I don't see why banks deserve this royal treatment while Tether doesn't. Whether Tether was or wasn't responsible with the money is another matter entirely. I fully support any efforts to hold them accountable for their actions there.
  - throwawaygh 5y ago
    Banks don't get that special treatment for free. They pay for insurance and comply with regulations. Some of those regulations exist to reduce the risks associated with FDIC insurance, and a lot of those regulations exist to force banks to serve important social functions. You can fault banking regulation for not being stringent enough, and I won't argue with you. But I'll never understand how "fuck banks getting special treatment" should ever translate into "therefore wildcat banks are a GREAT idea, right?" Or, to put it another way: I don't want to bail out the big banks; why in fuck's sake would I want to bail out Tether speculators?
    - matheusmoreira 5y ago
      > therefore wildcat banks are a GREAT idea, right? They're not. Cryptocurrency is not even supposed to have banks in the first place! It was supposed to put an end to all that stuff. People should not be exchanging crypto for fiat, they should be transacting directly in crypto. Instead the exchanges became banks and people invented USDT because dealing with USD is hell on earth. There was supposed to be no need to ever deal with USD or any other fiat currency. Everything crypto was invented to solve became integral to the crypto market ... > I don't want to bail out the big banks; why in fuck's sake would I want to bail out Tether speculators? I don't want that either. I want banks to face the consequences of their risk taking. It's never gonna happen though. They'll keep bailing out the banks. So there's no reason they shouldn't do the same for crypto.
mkr-hn 5y ago
Banks (in the US) pay fees to the FDIC to insure deposits well past what most people have and are subject to reserve requirements.