On the contrary, Tether DID take investor money (in the form of USD), provided them with an IOU, and proceeded to buy hopefully-productive "real"-economy bonds

On the contrary, Tether DID take investor money (in the form of USD), provided them with an IOU, and proceeded to buy hopefully-productive "real"-economy bonds with it. Debt only creates value if it can be repaid. If Tether can not maintain the peg, it represents insolvency, and a net loss for the investors (rather than a win-win as a loan is supposed to be). Seeing they also own non-USD-denominated bonds, it is not guaranteed that the principal returned will be the same dollar amount, even if held until maturity. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/19/tether-claims-usdt-stablecoin-is-backed-by-non-us-bonds.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/19/tether-claims-usdt-stablecoi...