4 ms·

Sadly I don't think everyone knows it. My experience talking to people who describe themselves as somewhat involved in crypto trading is that many of them don't

Sadly I don't think everyone knows it. My experience talking to people who describe themselves as somewhat involved in crypto trading is that many of them don't realize there is very solid evidence for Tether being a fraud. It being run by known scammers and proven lies about USD backing being the most damning. What I usually hear is: "yeah but they were talking about it being fraud for years now and it's still there" or "the FED is a fraud as well". The former is caused by successful "fud" skeptic shaming campaign while the latter is caused by the widespread ignorance about how financial system works. Both are very common even among otherwise intelligent people.

koonsolo 5y ago
I'm involved in crypto and I really don't care about Tether. Currently, people are coming in with their own USD and willing to buy Bitcoin at a price of 60K. That has nothing to do with Tether. It has everything to do with people willing to pay that price. I don't own Tether, so I really don't care.
- bluecalm 5y ago
  People are not willing to pay 60k because they think Bitcoin is somehow worth 60k based on their analysis. They trust the market to be somewhat efficient and they want to get involved. if 60k is a current fair price let's be it. The problem is that the price is propped up by Tether printing tokens which are then used to buy BTC. This is like the NFT fraud where you pass your NFT around your wallets to create an illusion of artificial demand and the price going up. There is a reason wash trading is illegal. "People are coming with their own USD to buy" isn't an excuse in such case.
- jqpabc123 5y ago
  That has nothing to do with Tether. It has everything to do with people willing to pay that price. It has everything to do with Tether. Tether is being minted with an illusionary value of $1USD and "loaned" to favored insiders which use it to buy Bitcoin and inflate the price. The fact that Bitcoin trades for $60k is the result of this being done in the past. The reason new investors pay $60k is their expectation it will continue into the future. More than half of all Bitcoin trades involve Tether. The two are inextricably linked whether you realize it or not. What you have described is an aspect of most classic financial fraud schemes --- an influx of new investors is required to keep the scheme going. While it continues, everyone is happy. But when the music stops (as it always does) someone is inevitably left without a chair at the table.
  - koonsolo 5y ago
    Ok, so please enlighten me. > More than half of all Bitcoin trades involve Tether So how much of this Tether is fake money? When I buy crypto, I do that with fiat coming from a fractional reserve bank. So basically 1% is money the bank has now, and 99% is lended and "should be available at some point". This all seems like a system that just begs for a cryptocurrency solution :p. Tether is part of the fiat system, not cryptocurrency. I would love to see someone making Bitcoins or Ethereum out of thin air. Because if Tether is creating dollars out of thin air as you say, that's a serious flaw in the fiat system.
    - jqpabc123 5y ago
      Tether is part of the fiat system, not cryptocurrency. LOL! Tether has no role in the fiat system other than it's fictitious claims of relative value.
      - koonsolo 5y ago
        As long as they have >1% backed by cash, they are doing better than any fractional reserve bank ;p.
        jqpabc123 5y ago
        "Better" for themselves --- no doubt. "Better" for others --- no way. To do "better", submit to an audit to show their cash backing. Instead they claim 100% backed by "something" that is not even clearly defined and has changed over time. And the exchanges play along and collude to keep the "market" price at $1USD.
        koonsolo 5y ago
        I remember the big bank bailout of 2008. Tether... fiat... they are not that different. Like I said before: problems that cryptocurrency fixes :D.
  - koonsolo 5y ago

koonsolo 5y ago

I'm involved in crypto and I really don't care about Tether. Currently, people are coming in with their own USD and willing to buy Bitcoin at a price of 60K. That has nothing to do with Tether. It has everything to do with people willing to pay that price. I don't own Tether, so I really don't care.

bluecalm 5y ago
People are not willing to pay 60k because they think Bitcoin is somehow worth 60k based on their analysis. They trust the market to be somewhat efficient and they want to get involved. if 60k is a current fair price let's be it. The problem is that the price is propped up by Tether printing tokens which are then used to buy BTC. This is like the NFT fraud where you pass your NFT around your wallets to create an illusion of artificial demand and the price going up. There is a reason wash trading is illegal. "People are coming with their own USD to buy" isn't an excuse in such case.
jqpabc123 5y ago
That has nothing to do with Tether. It has everything to do with people willing to pay that price. It has everything to do with Tether. Tether is being minted with an illusionary value of $1USD and "loaned" to favored insiders which use it to buy Bitcoin and inflate the price. The fact that Bitcoin trades for $60k is the result of this being done in the past. The reason new investors pay $60k is their expectation it will continue into the future. More than half of all Bitcoin trades involve Tether. The two are inextricably linked whether you realize it or not. What you have described is an aspect of most classic financial fraud schemes --- an influx of new investors is required to keep the scheme going. While it continues, everyone is happy. But when the music stops (as it always does) someone is inevitably left without a chair at the table.
- koonsolo 5y ago
  Ok, so please enlighten me. > More than half of all Bitcoin trades involve Tether So how much of this Tether is fake money? When I buy crypto, I do that with fiat coming from a fractional reserve bank. So basically 1% is money the bank has now, and 99% is lended and "should be available at some point". This all seems like a system that just begs for a cryptocurrency solution :p. Tether is part of the fiat system, not cryptocurrency. I would love to see someone making Bitcoins or Ethereum out of thin air. Because if Tether is creating dollars out of thin air as you say, that's a serious flaw in the fiat system.
  - jqpabc123 5y ago
    Tether is part of the fiat system, not cryptocurrency. LOL! Tether has no role in the fiat system other than it's fictitious claims of relative value.
    - koonsolo 5y ago
      As long as they have >1% backed by cash, they are doing better than any fractional reserve bank ;p.
      - jqpabc123 5y ago
        "Better" for themselves --- no doubt. "Better" for others --- no way. To do "better", submit to an audit to show their cash backing. Instead they claim 100% backed by "something" that is not even clearly defined and has changed over time. And the exchanges play along and collude to keep the "market" price at $1USD.
        koonsolo 5y ago
        I remember the big bank bailout of 2008. Tether... fiat... they are not that different. Like I said before: problems that cryptocurrency fixes :D.
- koonsolo 5y ago