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Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

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Re: Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

#81

Post by A2017U1 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #38
apo wrote: post #28

It could have something to do with the arrival (soon to be a flood) of much-better financed and regulated stable coins such as the Gemini dollar: To date, there has been no trusted and regulated digital representation of the U.S. dollar that moves in an open, decentralized manner like cryptocurrencies. Enter the Gemini dollar — a stable value coin (often called a “stablecoin”) that is (i) issued by Gemini, a New York…

> regulated stable coins such as the Gemini dollar I still don't see how they satisfy their anti-money laundering requirements. You can't have a token which is (a) anonymously traded, (b) freely redeemable for hard currency, and (c) compliant. Even if you modify (b) to "redeemable with approved KYC paperwork for hard currency," you still have the problem that you sold a token for cash to one person, redeemed it for c…

> anonymously traded

Where exactly does anyone claim that?

They have a team of lawyers and access to all the regulators by virtue of being such a huge exchange. Do you honestly believe they haven't consulted widely on this?

Re: Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

#82

Post by GenericsMotors »

unixhero wrote: post #3
lewisflude wrote: post #2

Isn't this an easy opportunity for arbitrage? Assuming it goes back up to $1. I thought that was the whole point of fiat-backed crypto?

Yeah. But like. How backed is it really.

If only a neutral third party, such as a respected auditing firm, could confirm they hold the cash in reserve.

Re: Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

#83

Post by Tsubasachan »

bmh wrote: post #49
zamadatix wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$2,000,000,000+ worth issued without proof of backing? What value did Tether add that people were willing to deal with it as a middleman to dollars? Side note: The graph could use some TLC. The colors are indistinguishable and there are no static historical charts on the page, just the graph since my visit.

A major use of USDT is that you can sell your cryptos when they're high, converting them to USDT, which holds it's value. Then, when the crypto prices drop, you buy in again, and repeat. By keeping it entirely in the crypto space, your country's tax system can't charge you for capital gains.

Too bad BMW dealers don't accept Tether. At some point you want to cash out, and who knows if this will be around in 50 years at all?

Re: Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

#84

Post by justaj »

jpatokal wrote: post #19

I built this site in February this year in anticipation: http://www.untether.space/ The spread between Bitcoin priced in Tether and Bitcoin priced in USD has been holding steady at For the curious, source at https://github.com/jpatokal/untether and also submitted as a Show HN at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18219034 .

Please add HTTPS.

Re: Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

#85

Post by Tsubasachan »

deckar01 wrote: post #33
Tsubasachan wrote: post #29

I always found it amusing bitcoin needs to be backed by USD. Wasn't the whole BTC religion about how bad and unstable traditional currencies are? Meanwhile no central bank is trying to save Tether.

It's not about backing with value, it's about liquidity. Traders want to use USD assets on a market and be able to transfer them as a digital asset between exchanges with minimal 3rd party fees. Transferring USD through a bank account can be expensive.

No that wasn't how it started. It was going to become something you could use to buy groceries with.

Ofcourse it BECAME just another financial wizardry tool, that's honestly all the tech sector really does. The smartest people on the planet are thinking about how to make more money.

Re: Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

#86

Post by cbau »

TylerE wrote: post #37
zamadatix wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$2,000,000,000+ worth issued without proof of backing? What value did Tether add that people were willing to deal with it as a middleman to dollars? Side note: The graph could use some TLC. The colors are indistinguishable and there are no static historical charts on the page, just the graph since my visit.

That is could be used to avoid all those annoying banking laws (AML, KYC, etc).

I never really understand this claim, but also don't have a deep expertise in AML/KYC. How does Tether help here?

Re: Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

#87

Post by yholio »

mrep wrote: post #72
TylerE wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is could be used to avoid all those annoying banking laws (AML, KYC, etc).

Until the bank they are using to accept USD decides to check them on that (per https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18214935 ): @patio11 19h19 hours ago Eventually, a bank or, more likely, a regulator is going to say “Actually this doesn’t look like a legit deposit that we’re uncomfortable with supporting due to AML/regulatory reasons. It looks an awful lot like proceeds of crime intermingled with grey money.” @patio…

> Prove that it’s legal money.

A clear abuse, it's the government's job to prove illegal deeds. Holding customers funds hostage under the threat of bankruptcy, while the company navigates the complex legal minefield the government itself created is just about the most corrupt system and farther from the rule of law you can get, short of direct confiscation.

They even went as far as claiming MtGox was a money transmitting business because it was a customer of Dwolla, and so customers of Dwolla could send money to themselves by withdrawing and depositing dwolla to MtGox: http://k.lenz.name/LB/2013/05/16/seizure-warrant-against-mut...

Re: Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

#88

Post by Obi_Juan_Kenobi »

cbau wrote: post #86
TylerE wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is could be used to avoid all those annoying banking laws (AML, KYC, etc).

I never really understand this claim, but also don't have a deep expertise in AML/KYC. How does Tether help here?

The situation isn't too complex: Bitfinex is a crypto exchange that had difficulty finding banks that would work with them. Banks are regulated and expose themselves to a great deal of liability if they provide banking for services for illegal endeavors. As you can imagine, some crypto exchanges are deemed too risky.

Tether and Bitfinex are the same thing, though both will vigorously deny that, but it's patently clear that they're intimately related. Tether has variously been able to get banking services, and thus act as a USD deposit to enter crypto exchanges like Bitfinex (USD -> USDT tether -> trade for Bitcoin, etc.). Because it's so clear that Tether is simply used as a way to circumvent AML/KYC, Tether continues to have difficulty securing banking services.

This current uncoupling of USD:USDT(tether) is due to such a banking issue. There are two major risks with Tether:

* Liquidity: without access to banking services, Tether uncouples and there can be a 'bank run' as the majority of funds are unavailable to maintain the stable price.

* Reserves: right now there are no guarantees that each Tether is backed by actual USD. You simply have to trust Tether on this. Ultimately Tether may be a sort of fractional reserve, and thus enough selling pressure will make Tether worthless.

At it's core, it's just a clumsy obfuscation.

Re: Tether (USDT) price falling to $0.95

#90

Post by joshstrange »

A2017U1 wrote: post #81
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> regulated stable coins such as the Gemini dollar I still don't see how they satisfy their anti-money laundering requirements. You can't have a token which is (a) anonymously traded, (b) freely redeemable for hard currency, and (c) compliant. Even if you modify (b) to "redeemable with approved KYC paperwork for hard currency," you still have the problem that you sold a token for cash to one person, redeemed it for c…

> anonymously traded Where exactly does anyone claim that? They have a team of lawyers and access to all the regulators by virtue of being such a huge exchange. Do you honestly believe they haven't consulted widely on this?

> They have a team of lawyers and access to all the regulators by virtue of being such a huge exchange. Do you honestly believe they haven't consulted widely on this?

I'll get back to you in a few days when I finish laughing... MtGox was also a huge exchange, I think the only sane thing to do at this point with Cryptos are to assume all exchanges are stupid, aren't solvent, haven't consulted lawyers, and/or don't know the law until it is proven otherwise. Exchanges that don't fit the criteria are the exception not the rule.

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