Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

protos.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 211 posts

Re: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

#61

Post by jqpabc123 »

sprafa wrote: post #33
jqpabc123 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't end there. Slightly less obvious is the fact that Tether and other "Stable coins" are the only "stability" that exists in the crypto marketplace. More than half of all crypto trades involve stable coins. And exchanges play along (wittingly or not) with the ruse for their own benefit. So if Tether is a scam, so is bitcoin and the entire crypto marketplace.

USDC has been audited and it's solid. I know of people in large banks who are working with USDC and they've vouched for it being 100% ok.

Coinbase modified the USD Coin page on its website after an audit revealed that not all USDC reserves are held in cash. The myth that each USDC is backed by one dollar has been shattered.

https://liquidity-provider.com/news/coinbase-has-dropped-the...

Re: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

#63

Post by crazydoggers »

themagician wrote: post #58
crazydoggers wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Based on the information Protos has gathered, Cumberland is apparently the number one liquidity provider in crypto, period — thanks to Tether. Not saying there’s nothing nefarious occurring, but it also doesn’t scream scam. The whole point of Tether is to supply liquidity to the crypto market. So is it surprising firms specializing in it utilize an outsized share?? The thing is tether is pegged. It’s not like if yo…

The point of Tether is to make money—for Tether, not you. They are getting rich when you buy a million dollars worth.

How? They have to maintain that million dollars so I can withdraw it when I need it.

Nothing has yet shown that is a problem or that’s not being done.

Go deposit 1 million in a bank, and then ask for it in cash the next day. You won’t get it.

Re: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

#64

Post by Spivak »

turminal wrote: post #52
Spivak wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look, Tether might be a scam in the sense that they don't actually have the backing assets they claim but that doesn't invalidate the rest of the market or the trades done with them any more than your bank having They are absolutely running afoul of banking regulations but that's not exactly catastrophic for the whole market. Unless there's a bank run the only thing Tether actually needs to do is keep the trading val…

> Tether might be a scam in the sense that they don't actually have the backing assets they claim Tether is a scam on a whole other level than this

But like how? I get why the SEC might have words for Tether the company but I don't get how users of tether have been scammed. You buy coin at around $1 and sell at around $1. Like from an end-user perspective as long as the thing actually functions as a stablecoin for some time interval you care about what else is there?

Re: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

#65

Post by themagician »

crazydoggers wrote: post #56
jqpabc123 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is tether is pegged. I think the point you're missing here is that there is no logical basis for the "pegging". It's pegged because crypto exchanges play along with the pegging fantasy.

Well it’s supposed to be pegged to the dollar by maintaining USD deposits. Nothing here or that I’ve yet seen indicated that hasn’t been happening. Banks are worse anyway, all banks function on fractional reserve, but we don’t immediately call them scams.

Literally most of what Tether holds is commercial paper—basically IOUs for payroll. From who? Who knows. Probably other startups.

Re: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

#66

Post by togilvie »

NickM wrote: post #3

There are a lot of areas of crypto where I feel like I have a pretty good understanding, but I genuinely don't understand why anyone would "invest" in a stablecoin. What advantage does holding something like USDT offer over simply putting dollars in a bank account?

If you are a market maker / arbitrageur working across multiple exchanges, US dollars can take days to settle and wire/withdrawal capacity is limited. USDT offers instant transfers, so you can rebalance across locations with ease. That's why it's being heavily used by the largest market makers in crypto.

Re: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

#67

Post by amznthrwaway »

Spivak wrote: post #43
jqpabc123 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't end there. Slightly less obvious is the fact that Tether and other "Stable coins" are the only "stability" that exists in the crypto marketplace. More than half of all crypto trades involve stable coins. And exchanges play along (wittingly or not) with the ruse for their own benefit. So if Tether is a scam, so is bitcoin and the entire crypto marketplace.

Look, Tether might be a scam in the sense that they don't actually have the backing assets they claim but that doesn't invalidate the rest of the market or the trades done with them any more than your bank having They are absolutely running afoul of banking regulations but that's not exactly catastrophic for the whole market. Unless there's a bank run the only thing Tether actually needs to do is keep the trading val…

Your bank has a balance sheet that adds up in the entirety, with maybe 10% liquid.

Tether claimed they were 100% liquid backed, then kept changing that as it became obvious they were lying.

It is extremely likely that they are insolvent (assets not adding up to 100%).

Re: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

#68

Post by graeme »

sprafa wrote: post #33
jqpabc123 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't end there. Slightly less obvious is the fact that Tether and other "Stable coins" are the only "stability" that exists in the crypto marketplace. More than half of all crypto trades involve stable coins. And exchanges play along (wittingly or not) with the ruse for their own benefit. So if Tether is a scam, so is bitcoin and the entire crypto marketplace.

USDC has been audited and it's solid. I know of people in large banks who are working with USDC and they've vouched for it being 100% ok.

Not an audit, an attestation. They check assets at a moment and time.

Re: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

#69

Post by crazydoggers »

themagician wrote: post #65
crazydoggers wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it’s supposed to be pegged to the dollar by maintaining USD deposits. Nothing here or that I’ve yet seen indicated that hasn’t been happening. Banks are worse anyway, all banks function on fractional reserve, but we don’t immediately call them scams.

Literally most of what Tether holds is commercial paper—basically IOUs for payroll. From who? Who knows. Probably other startups.

Do you have references?

Edit: Haha.. asking legit question for data because I’m curious gets downvoted. Lol. I should know to avoid the crypto discussions here. Lots of emotion and not much useful information getting shared

Re: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms – Alameda and Cumberland

#70

Post by xtracto »

NickM wrote: post #3

There are a lot of areas of crypto where I feel like I have a pretty good understanding, but I genuinely don't understand why anyone would "invest" in a stablecoin. What advantage does holding something like USDT offer over simply putting dollars in a bank account?

I live in Mexico so I get paid in MXN which historically has been, let´s say less than optimal ( https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/USDMXN/ ). I have a portfolio of different risk profiles (ETFs, bonds, IRA, etc [Mexico equivalents of course]). Some of that is in stablecoins, which are pegged to the US Dollar, because it is the easiest way for me to store them, instead of going to a "casa de cambio" and exchange the bills themselves (with the risk of being robbed, shot or killed).

It's a pretty good use case if you ask me haha.

Post reply on HN