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Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

ag.ny.gov

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Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#311

Post by dragonwriter »

jiveturkey wrote: post #301

Hopefully this isn't drowned out by all the crypto discussion. How can NY require mandatory reporting on core business, if both entities are forbidden now to transact with New Yorkers? How would this even be enforceable? "Sorry, we don't do business in your state."

> How can NY require mandatory reporting on core business, if both entities are forbidden now to transact with New Yorkers?

They can because that's the term the firms agreed to to settle the investigation and avoid a suit over misconduct identified by the OAG.

> How would this even be enforceable?

The OAG takes the firms back to court for violating the settlement agreement, which can include filing charges for any misconduct preceding and covered by the agreement, for which the statute of limitations is suspended by the agreement.

> "Sorry, we don't do business in your state."

That...doesn't help them at all.

Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#312

Post by lazide »

dcolkitt wrote: post #296
dudus wrote: post #272

I've been following Tether for quite a long time. I have no absolute proof it is a scam but the writing is on the wall. Here are some facts. - The current Market Cap of USDT is 34 Billion Dollars. It was 4B this time last year. Since the value is pegged this means there has been an influx of cash of 30 B into this shady company in the last year alone. Who invested this money? We have no idea since Tether doesn't disc…

> There's no way to transfer USDT into USD. The few exchanges that say they offer withdraws actually don't if you go and try. There is an easy way. Swap USDT to USDC on Curve. Deposit USDC on Coinbase. Convert USDC to USD on Coinbase. Withdraw USD. I'm not saying I disagree with your overall thesis. But this specific point makes it sound like USDT is some sort of roach motel ("you can get in, but you can't get out").…

That's fairly easy?!?! That's a textbook yak shaving exercise if I heard of one, and seems like it would have to involve multiple parties during the exercise.

Many exchanges have pretended for a long time that USDT is 'the same' as dollars, and there are going to be a lot of folks pissed that it isn't actually the same thing.

Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#313

Post by nemo44x »

mumblemumble wrote: post #300
nemo44x wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BTC has been the #1 asset over the last 10 years. In many individual years it has out performed every other asset. It has this year by a large amount. At some point the dissenters will have to admit they were wrong. The reality is, BTC is here to stay and is a valuable hedge that is independent of any corporation, government, or central bank.

This statement, minus the political content, sounds very, very, very similar to what I was hearing about tech stocks a bit over 20 years ago, and houses about 15 years ago. Maybe that means something, maybe it doesn't. If I had some way of knowing, I'd have a lot more money than I am now. It's worth remembering, though, that prices are just that: prices. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yeah me too - I remember when AMZN was $2. I remember when AAPL was 28 cents (before splits, etc). I remember when the Internet had a host of pundits proclaiming it was a dying fad in 2001.

And most anyone who bought a house at the peak of the bubble is doing quite well if they still have it today.

Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#314

Post by Spooky23 »

lettergram wrote: post #57

It appears from the link in the settlement agreement: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021.02.17_-_settlemen... Tether wasn’t backed at all times. The argument was that this happened due to asset seizures in Poland and Portugal in 2017-2018. https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/95207/bitfinex-tether-ne... Seems to me they couldn’t prove malicious intent, so they suggested they stop trading. Frankly this seems a…

The entire point of the tether was that it was backed 1:1 by US Dollars. Later they asserted that it was 0.75:1.

The bank doesn't lie about it's capitalization.

Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#315

Post by TheCapn »

dcolkitt wrote: post #296
dudus wrote: post #272

I've been following Tether for quite a long time. I have no absolute proof it is a scam but the writing is on the wall. Here are some facts. - The current Market Cap of USDT is 34 Billion Dollars. It was 4B this time last year. Since the value is pegged this means there has been an influx of cash of 30 B into this shady company in the last year alone. Who invested this money? We have no idea since Tether doesn't disc…

> There's no way to transfer USDT into USD. The few exchanges that say they offer withdraws actually don't if you go and try. There is an easy way. Swap USDT to USDC on Curve. Deposit USDC on Coinbase. Convert USDC to USD on Coinbase. Withdraw USD. I'm not saying I disagree with your overall thesis. But this specific point makes it sound like USDT is some sort of roach motel ("you can get in, but you can't get out").…

>There is an easy way.

How many fees have you paid through the 3 or 4 steps to get to this "easy" solution? Is that solution available to everyone worldwide? (I'm not familiar with Curve or Coinbase and whether they're US only or something of that nature)

Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#316

Post by sb057 »

skybrian wrote: post #308
dcolkitt wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no way to transfer USDT into USD. The few exchanges that say they offer withdraws actually don't if you go and try. There is an easy way. Swap USDT to USDC on Curve. Deposit USDC on Coinbase. Convert USDC to USD on Coinbase. Withdraw USD. I'm not saying I disagree with your overall thesis. But this specific point makes it sound like USDT is some sort of roach motel ("you can get in, but you can't get out").…

I’m wondering how high volume would need to be for the first step (from USDT to USDC) before something breaks? Why don’t more people use USDC anyway?

>Why don’t more people use USDC anyway?

USDT got there first.

Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#317

Post by nostrademons »

dcolkitt wrote: post #296
dudus wrote: post #272

I've been following Tether for quite a long time. I have no absolute proof it is a scam but the writing is on the wall. Here are some facts. - The current Market Cap of USDT is 34 Billion Dollars. It was 4B this time last year. Since the value is pegged this means there has been an influx of cash of 30 B into this shady company in the last year alone. Who invested this money? We have no idea since Tether doesn't disc…

> There's no way to transfer USDT into USD. The few exchanges that say they offer withdraws actually don't if you go and try. There is an easy way. Swap USDT to USDC on Curve. Deposit USDC on Coinbase. Convert USDC to USD on Coinbase. Withdraw USD. I'm not saying I disagree with your overall thesis. But this specific point makes it sound like USDT is some sort of roach motel ("you can get in, but you can't get out").…

There was a similar situation the last time the NYC AG tried to shut down Tether and withdrawals from Bitfinex were blocked (June 2019). What happened was that Tether started trading at about $0.93 and USDC/DAI started trading around $1.04, as the supply of other stablecoins wasn't quite adequate to accommodate all the people fleeing Tether. Bitcoin actually ended up being the reserve currency instead: the price of Bitcoin spiked from $5200 -> $8700 over the course of a couple weeks as Tether holders dumped it to buy Bitcoin and move it to other exchanges.

Personally I'm surprised the risk premium wasn't more, but Tether is still around today despite both Bitfinex and Binance blocking withdrawals and the NYC AG initiating fraud charges against them, so ultimately the folks who decided it was nothing were right. Then, at least.

Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#318

Post by arcticbull »

skybrian wrote: post #308
dcolkitt wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no way to transfer USDT into USD. The few exchanges that say they offer withdraws actually don't if you go and try. There is an easy way. Swap USDT to USDC on Curve. Deposit USDC on Coinbase. Convert USDC to USD on Coinbase. Withdraw USD. I'm not saying I disagree with your overall thesis. But this specific point makes it sound like USDT is some sort of roach motel ("you can get in, but you can't get out").…

I’m wondering how high volume would need to be for the first step (from USDT to USDC) before something breaks? Why don’t more people use USDC anyway?

Well, because Tether is happy to look the other way for money launderers, cartels and other bad actors. USDC can't.

Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#319

Post by vidarh »

tutfbhuf wrote: post #305
dcolkitt wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no way to transfer USDT into USD. The few exchanges that say they offer withdraws actually don't if you go and try. There is an easy way. Swap USDT to USDC on Curve. Deposit USDC on Coinbase. Convert USDC to USD on Coinbase. Withdraw USD. I'm not saying I disagree with your overall thesis. But this specific point makes it sound like USDT is some sort of roach motel ("you can get in, but you can't get out").…

> There is an easy way. Swap USDT to USDC on Curve. Deposit USDC on Coinbase. Convert USDC to USD on Coinbase. Withdraw USD. Then what is your explanation for why it is not possible to directly exchange USDT for USD, there must be a reason that no exchange wants to do that. > that most of the market doesn't perceive a risk. That is absolutely no indicator for safety.

> Then what is your explanation for why it is not possible to directly exchange USDT for USD, there must be a reason that no exchange wants to do that.

https://global.bittrex.com/Market/Index?MarketName=USD-USDT

Re: Bitfinex and Tether required to end all trading activity with New Yorkers

#320

Post by hntrader »

dudus wrote: post #272

I've been following Tether for quite a long time. I have no absolute proof it is a scam but the writing is on the wall. Here are some facts. - The current Market Cap of USDT is 34 Billion Dollars. It was 4B this time last year. Since the value is pegged this means there has been an influx of cash of 30 B into this shady company in the last year alone. Who invested this money? We have no idea since Tether doesn't disc…

If the total amount of USDT exceeds their USD cash reserves, who became the beneficiary of the extra USDT?
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