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$3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

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Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only 3.87% of Tether was backed by dollars: https://siliconangle.com/2021/05/13/tether-releases-reserve-... So it could drop pretty far.

> Only 3.87% of Tether was backed by dollars For comparison: Citibank had only 11.73% Tier 1 capital in their 2021 report: https://www.citigroup.com/citi/investor/quarterly/2021/ar20_... Couldn't find a breakout of their Tier 1, but it includes high-quality credit items as well, so actual dollars is well below 11.73%. So in other words: SiliconAngle.com is writing clickbait and doesn't understand modern banking.

Real banks practice fractional-reserve banking, where they are required to hold a percentage of assets as cash or central bank deposits. It's well-regulated and diversified. It's audited. Individual account holders' deposits are insured (FDIC in the US). This is all well-known and understood and reliable. Runs can still happen, shady accounting practices can still happen, and sometimes banks fail. Sometimes they fail catastrophically, and people can lose money, but it's about as trustworthy as things get.

Tether does not claim to be a fractional-reserve bank. They claim that 100% of the assets are backed by US dollar cash deposits. It's their entire raison d'etre. Except no one is enforcing it. It's not even remotely the same thing as a fractional-reserve bank.

Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#102
post #69
post #4

"Sold" It's hard to show that they really sold these coins. Certainly, the LFG transferred the coins to some different exchanges. But did they truly sell them? If I was running a dodgy ponzi scheme and saw it collapsing catastrophically, I don't think I'd be throwing good money after bad trying to futilely patch it up. Much better to stash the remaining assets away somewhere and personally cash out later on. Also, “I…

> 'this is good for bitcoin' A total ponzi scam coin crashed. This IS good for Bitcoin. Bitcoin is not Luna nor is it one of the thousands of other garbage scam coins. The faster those coins are proven scams the better. Too many people falsely equate "Bitcoin === Crypto".. or "a fan of bitcoin is a fan of all crypto". So I'd bounce this back to you: How is Luna's Ponzi crash NOT good for bitcoin?

> Too many people falsely equate "Bitcoin === Crypto".. or "a fan of bitcoin is a fan of all crypto".

It pretty much is. I can open the price graph for any coin and assume the bitcoin movements are similar. Small dip in bitcoin price? Alts get destroyed. Even ethereum gets destroyed.

Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#103
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The guy was running a blatant Ponzi scheme (20% risk free yoy return for anyone investing in a 'stable' coin is a Ponzi), and it's the fourth time he's tried this (it's the first time it grew to multiple billions). He's not stupid, he's just a predator, and just like any other predator, belongs in prison.

The 20% interest was just a short-term user acquisition scheme, funded by some of the initial LUNA tokens. I don't think anyone claimed that it was sustainable. A Ponzi would be if Anchor used users' deposits to pay out the 20% rewards, which isn't what happened here.

> funded by some of the initial LUNA tokens.

Which were bought by users in a zero sum-game.

A ponzi is a zero-sum game where new entrants finance old exits. Just because the funding for the ponzi is done in a different currency doesn't mean it's not one.

You can't create a closed system that generates wealth, and when you're growth hacking with your users' money, you are running a fraud.

Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#104
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Only 3.87% of Tether was backed by dollars For comparison: Citibank had only 11.73% Tier 1 capital in their 2021 report: https://www.citigroup.com/citi/investor/quarterly/2021/ar20_... Couldn't find a breakout of their Tier 1, but it includes high-quality credit items as well, so actual dollars is well below 11.73%. So in other words: SiliconAngle.com is writing clickbait and doesn't understand modern banking.

Did Citibank claim that its value was one-to-one backed with U.S. dollar reserves until they were caught not doing so? If not, they're probably not a relevant comparison to Tether.

Irrelevant because for >99% of depositors (NOTE - not total deposits) FDIC insurance will pay them out in the event of a bank run.

For the vast majority of users - the difference in 1:1 backing and FDIC insurance is irrelevant. This is the reason you'll almost certainly never see a global bank run. It's the reason why we probably will eventually see a Tether bank run.

Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, “In a sense, the market is going to take that as kind of bullish.” - a.k.a. the standard 'this is good for bitcoin' quote, applicable whatever the news is! Yes all weekend I had been wondering and cautious based on how much bitcoin was left to sell! Its just a commodity, supply can be faster than demand, specifically when one whale is expected to flood the market Terra Luna rallied 500x (50,000%) off the lows…

Huh? https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna/

You would be better off using a spreadsheet updated with your own data points than price aggregators.

But that very website says the 24 hour low was $0.00001675 and the current price of $.00016 is 10x higher

The reality is that the lows on specific exchanges had more zeroes than that

Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#106
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell me, what assets exactly are backing BTC which stop it from crashing just like Luna?

LUNA minted trillions of brand new tokens within the span of a day or so rendering the token worthless. This is due to the way LUNA was tied to the algorithmic stablecoin UST. It was a true ponzi. BTC's max supply is capped and the release schedule of new coins is fixed and predictable. There is no possible way that trillions of new bitcoins could suddenly be created.

Do you think the value of Bitcoin will go to zero due to lost private keys?

Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, “In a sense, the market is going to take that as kind of bullish.” - a.k.a. the standard 'this is good for bitcoin' quote, applicable whatever the news is! Yes all weekend I had been wondering and cautious based on how much bitcoin was left to sell! Its just a commodity, supply can be faster than demand, specifically when one whale is expected to flood the market Terra Luna rallied 500x (50,000%) off the lows…

Where is this rally you reference? All the charts I can find sink to zero with no significant movement after that point.

Kucoin and Binance

But other people are more willing to explain it

Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#108
post #4

"Sold" It's hard to show that they really sold these coins. Certainly, the LFG transferred the coins to some different exchanges. But did they truly sell them? If I was running a dodgy ponzi scheme and saw it collapsing catastrophically, I don't think I'd be throwing good money after bad trying to futilely patch it up. Much better to stash the remaining assets away somewhere and personally cash out later on. Also, “I…

> “In a sense, the market is going to take that as kind of bullish.”

I mean everything is a bit oversold right now on negative emotions, both in the crypto space and in the stock markets.

There's probably going to be a positive bounce just because markets don't move in straight lines.

There is always the chance that something else explodes due to stress tomorrow and hits the headlines and crypto and/or stocks start melting down again (nothing is ever a sure bet), but it feels like we're closer to hitting a point of selling exhaustion and an inflection point of negative sentiment.

Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#109
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell me, what assets exactly are backing BTC which stop it from crashing just like Luna?

LUNA minted trillions of brand new tokens within the span of a day or so rendering the token worthless. This is due to the way LUNA was tied to the algorithmic stablecoin UST. It was a true ponzi. BTC's max supply is capped and the release schedule of new coins is fixed and predictable. There is no possible way that trillions of new bitcoins could suddenly be created.

> There is no possible way that trillions of new bitcoins could suddenly be created.

There absolutely is: fractional reserve banking. Exchanges are already operating that way. They offer loans, savings accounts and everything.

Re: $3B in Bitcoin was sold in a last-ditch attempt to save UST from collapse

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna/

The absolute low appears to be ~2e-5, and the (very temporary) high after that is 6e-3, which is a ~300x rally. However, the 6e-3 high was very temporary, with 4e-4 being the more durable high, with current prices running ~1-2e-4. ...I'm finding it easier to refer to the prices here in scientific notation, and to look at the price graph in log scale. That gives you an idea of how far the price has gone.

Yeah, 300x, 500x, overnight, eventually we’ll be talking some significant money
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