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I don't understand the argument that Tether crashing will take bitcoin with it. If Tether starts to collapse, then the holders of the $73 billion tether are go

I don't understand the argument that Tether crashing will take bitcoin with it. If Tether starts to collapse, then the holders of the $73 billion tether are going to be desperate to dump it for something else. They may try to dump it for real dollars, but they may also dump it for bitcoin and other "real" cryptocurrencies. Tether collapsing might even cause a massive bitcoin price pump.

SavantIdiot 5y ago
> Tether collapsing might even cause a massive bitcoin price pump. That's what I look for in a currency that dreams of replacing the dollar: a massive price pump.
- anonporridge 5y ago
  The price of a currency is completely relative to what you're measuring it against. The US dollar has recently been experiencing a massive price pump priced in Turkish Lira. Does that make the dollar a bad currency? https://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-try https://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-try Your currency experiencing a price pump just means it's been collectively deemed to be stronger and safer than other currencies and undergoing a re-valuation. It literally happens to all currencies on the planet all the time.
  - SavantIdiot 5y ago
    In 5 years, the Turkish lira has lost ~70% of its value against the US dollar. In the same 5 years, the value of bitcoin has increased 1,000% against the US dollar. Care to expound on the consequence to the citizens of Turkey? Because that is often overlooked when using this glib analogy. I'll do it for you: your argument is meaningful at the expense of the livelihood of millions of people. BTC is a money laundering mechanism, the economy of Turkey is made of real people. The two are not comparable.
    - anonporridge 5y ago
      Alternatively, the US dollar gained ~300% in value against the Lira. You really trust something that volatile? Turks who chose to trust their monetary savings in Lira are doing terrible. Their savings have been destroyed. Turks who chose to trust their monetary savings in Dollars are doing ok. They're still getting debased, but slower than their fellow citizens. And relative their fellow citizens, they're doing amazing. Turks who chose to trust their monetary savings in Bitcoin are doing incredible. They took a risk trusting something that many smart people say is dangerous and isn't worth trusting, and they've been radically rewarded for it. Their savings can't be debased and faith in the currency is only growing, even if it's happening in volatile fits and spurts. Bitcoin is certainly used for money laundering, but so is every other currency. Banks have repeatedly been caught aiding criminal organizations. You're conflating some people using a tool for bad things with the tool itself being necessarily bad. It's not a good argument. The bitcoin economy is also made of real people, like myself, who work a real job and pay my taxes, but choose to trust my savings in money that can never be arbitrarily debased by easily corruptible humans.
      - ichydkrsrnae 5y ago
        When the money system seized up post Bear Stearns, money laundering was what saved a lot of banks. Illegal money was the only liquidity still being pushed through the pipes while all the other valves seized up. https://amp.theguardian.com/global/2009/dec/13/drug-money-banks-saved-un-cfief-claims https://amp.theguardian.com/global/2009/dec/13/drug-money-ba...
tiagobraw 5y ago
no, it probably won't cause a massive pump... For every seller there's a buyer.. who would be in the other side of the trade if tether is deemed worthless? A more probable scenario is that trading pairs against USDT will just get halted.
- pcthrowaway 5y ago
  > who would be in the other side of the trade if tether is deemed worthless? Predominantly retail traders who placed limit orders and didn't react to changing market conditions as fast as bots/institutions. Perhaps also some speculators who believe USDT may be able to reclaim the peg.
wmf 5y ago
If Tether crashes, many people will lose faith in crypto completely and sell everything.
- anonporridge 5y ago
  It would be a net positive for the space long term if people who confuse centralized stablecoins like Tether with decentralized "commodity" coins like bitcoin sell out completely. Concentrates bitcoin in the hands of stronger hodlers who understand what's actually going on and have a longer term investing thesis.
- jkhdigital 5y ago
  And the Bitcoin maximalists will be waiting with open arms to scoop up their coins at bargain prices.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

SavantIdiot 5y ago

> Tether collapsing might even cause a massive bitcoin price pump. That's what I look for in a currency that dreams of replacing the dollar: a massive price pump.

anonporridge 5y ago
The price of a currency is completely relative to what you're measuring it against. The US dollar has recently been experiencing a massive price pump priced in Turkish Lira. Does that make the dollar a bad currency? https://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-try https://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-try Your currency experiencing a price pump just means it's been collectively deemed to be stronger and safer than other currencies and undergoing a re-valuation. It literally happens to all currencies on the planet all the time.
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  In 5 years, the Turkish lira has lost ~70% of its value against the US dollar. In the same 5 years, the value of bitcoin has increased 1,000% against the US dollar. Care to expound on the consequence to the citizens of Turkey? Because that is often overlooked when using this glib analogy. I'll do it for you: your argument is meaningful at the expense of the livelihood of millions of people. BTC is a money laundering mechanism, the economy of Turkey is made of real people. The two are not comparable.
  - anonporridge 5y ago
    Alternatively, the US dollar gained ~300% in value against the Lira. You really trust something that volatile? Turks who chose to trust their monetary savings in Lira are doing terrible. Their savings have been destroyed. Turks who chose to trust their monetary savings in Dollars are doing ok. They're still getting debased, but slower than their fellow citizens. And relative their fellow citizens, they're doing amazing. Turks who chose to trust their monetary savings in Bitcoin are doing incredible. They took a risk trusting something that many smart people say is dangerous and isn't worth trusting, and they've been radically rewarded for it. Their savings can't be debased and faith in the currency is only growing, even if it's happening in volatile fits and spurts. Bitcoin is certainly used for money laundering, but so is every other currency. Banks have repeatedly been caught aiding criminal organizations. You're conflating some people using a tool for bad things with the tool itself being necessarily bad. It's not a good argument. The bitcoin economy is also made of real people, like myself, who work a real job and pay my taxes, but choose to trust my savings in money that can never be arbitrarily debased by easily corruptible humans.
    - ichydkrsrnae 5y ago
      When the money system seized up post Bear Stearns, money laundering was what saved a lot of banks. Illegal money was the only liquidity still being pushed through the pipes while all the other valves seized up. https://amp.theguardian.com/global/2009/dec/13/drug-money-banks-saved-un-cfief-claims https://amp.theguardian.com/global/2009/dec/13/drug-money-ba...

tiagobraw 5y ago

no, it probably won't cause a massive pump... For every seller there's a buyer.. who would be in the other side of the trade if tether is deemed worthless? A more probable scenario is that trading pairs against USDT will just get halted.

pcthrowaway 5y ago
> who would be in the other side of the trade if tether is deemed worthless? Predominantly retail traders who placed limit orders and didn't react to changing market conditions as fast as bots/institutions. Perhaps also some speculators who believe USDT may be able to reclaim the peg.

wmf 5y ago

If Tether crashes, many people will lose faith in crypto completely and sell everything.

anonporridge 5y ago
It would be a net positive for the space long term if people who confuse centralized stablecoins like Tether with decentralized "commodity" coins like bitcoin sell out completely. Concentrates bitcoin in the hands of stronger hodlers who understand what's actually going on and have a longer term investing thesis.
jkhdigital 5y ago
And the Bitcoin maximalists will be waiting with open arms to scoop up their coins at bargain prices.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]