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U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
141–150 of 228 posts
Re: U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
For anyone who hasn't read the article - I wish Tether was investigated too - but this article is not about that: "The illicit tactics that the Justice Department is looking into include spoofing and wash trading"
This could be working up to that.
Also the same people running Tether and Bitfinex are highly suspected of also spoofing / wash trading.
Re: U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
#143For anyone who hasn't been following, the prevailing theory is that the largest Cryptocoin exchange "Bitfinex" also runs an altcoin called "Teather" which was marketed as being backed 1:1 by USD. So far they've created 2.8 BILLION USDT and coincidently the times they create millions of these happens to be in the middle of extreme market crashes. See this chart: https://i.imgur.com/Uo07d1d.jpg More details here: https…
> So far they've created 2.8 BILLION USDT
Who bought all these USDT? Who is holding them? Why would you hold them?
Re: U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't need the withdrawal step in the current market I buy BTC w/ USD Bitfinex prints USDT Bitfinex uses USDT to get BTC In the end of this operation bitfinex has the USD and everyone else is satisfied. Normally Bitfinex needs to hold onto it to settle USDT claims, but so long as there's a USDT-usable market this might not be necessary Even if USDT is at 50 cents to the dollar it's still a license to print money
For every buyer there is a seller, bitfinex are not selling you the BTC. So that seller now wants to trade his USDT for USD to withdraw, whether he does that through bitfinex or another exchange using USDT, the end result should be an outflow of USD and a corresponding drop in the number of USDT.
Exactly, I'm wondering the same. Somebody bought 2.8 billion USDT and it is unclear who and why (to me).
Re: U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, right on tether.to they say, and I quote: > Our reserve holdings are published daily and subject to frequent professional audits. All tethers in circulation always match our reserves. They've been around for years and the grand total of independents audits is 0 (zero). Sure, assumptions don't make rumors true but them flat-out lying about audits and transparency speaks louder than anything else and we're not ev…
Even worse, they tried to get an audit, but it ended up with them and their auditor ending the process without producing an audit. Apparently they weren't too happy the auditor wanted to actually take a close look: “We confirm that the relationship with Friedman is dissolved. Given the excruciatingly detailed procedures Friedman was undertaking for the relatively simple balance sheet of Tether, it became clear that a…
So wait, am I reading this right? They want to say that their holdings are audited, but want an auditing process that stops at "yes, this bank account as a $X balance" and doesn't include anything about who actually owns the account or what its liabilities are?
In fairness, I can kind of understand the bind: it seems that use-case of tethers depends on not being a legally enforceable claim to dollars, specifically so they can't legally be regulated as such (which would trigger reporting requirements, accreditation as a money transmitter, etc). But that's a double-edged sword: it also means that no (ethical) auditor will sign off on a statement saying they legally own the assets they claim to have.
Re: U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not just put it into USD when they are done for the day?
Crypto/Fiat transactions are much more expensive than Crpyto/Crypto transactions. Why impact your bottom line if you don't need to?
In addition, it's more "liquid" too. It's easier to turn tether into pretty much any altcoin on most exchanges vs turning USD back into altcoins.
There's still a belief in some circles too that a crypto/crypto transaction isn't a taxable event, which isn't true anymore. Regardless, some either believe this or know it's not true but find it easier to tax-evade this way.
Re: U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
#147This going to be interesting. They will ask all the US based exchanges - Coinbase, Circle etc for their trade and order data for analysis. Coinbase has already fought and lost a case when it came to sharing the data for tax purposes. And one of the touted features of cryptocurrency has always been anonymity.
Bitcoin is traceable by nature. Anyone who makes claims of anonymity either doesn't understand how it works or has a system in place that provides uncertainty (ie tumbling).
Tumbling is plagued by a horrible tragedy of the commons problem: the more tainted your coins are, the more you want to tumble them. People who legitimately acquired their bitcoins don't need to tumble them, so chances are you are just getting other tainted coins in return.
People seem to think that coins are 'clean' after tumbling, but I think its much more likely that you'll get back more suspicious coins: superlatively, "Here's my personal-use drug bitcoin, give me coins that were earned by assassinating someone"
Re: U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
#148For anyone who hasn't been following, the prevailing theory is that the largest Cryptocoin exchange "Bitfinex" also runs an altcoin called "Teather" which was marketed as being backed 1:1 by USD. So far they've created 2.8 BILLION USDT and coincidently the times they create millions of these happens to be in the middle of extreme market crashes. See this chart: https://i.imgur.com/Uo07d1d.jpg More details here: https…
> So far they've created 2.8 BILLION USDT Who bought all these USDT? Who is holding them? Why would you hold them?
My understanding is that there was a confusing UI where people who intended to sell bitcoin for USD actually selected USDT by default.
And one reason they might hold them is because they can't figure out how to exchange them for USD.
I mean, I'm sure there must be some people who bought USDT when that was their intention, but there are also a bunch who bought it by accident.
Re: U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
> So far they've created 2.8 BILLION USDT Who bought all these USDT? Who is holding them? Why would you hold them?
My understanding is that there was a confusing UI where people who intended to sell bitcoin for USD actually selected USDT by default. And one reason they might hold them is because they can't figure out how to exchange them for USD. I mean, I'm sure there must be some people who bought USDT when that was their intention, but there are also a bunch who bought it by accident.
But you can easily buy BTC using USDT and then sell the BTC somewhere for real USD. Where are the reports of people stuck with USDT?
Re: U.S. Launches Criminal Probe into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Day traders use Tether a lot, even during bull runs. Because the market never closes, many full-time traders put their crypto all into tether when they're done trading for the day.
Why not just put it into USD when they are done for the day?
a lot of exchanges don't support USD conversion due to increased hassle of dealing with the dollar/us gov regulations. its easier to be a crypto only exchange than a crypto/fiat exchange