151–160 of 326 posts
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I just realized that the Bloomberg reporter who wrote the recent story is named "Zeke Faux." ( Faux meaning "fake" in French, in a story about fraud.) Is his name a pseudonym? If not, it's another surreal point in a surreal story.
Zeke = ZK = zero-knowledge?
good lord, the world is a strange place. or, we make it a strange place...
It may be counterintuitive, but the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin would be for Tether to collapse in a cloud of dust. Tether is continually cited as a large risk factor to Bitcoin by people who have gotten past the "it's not real money" objection. But I think it's worth considering what happens if the collapse never comes. If government investigation, findings of wrongdoing, admission of lies, and punishmen…
Fanatic and devoted fans there maybe, however they don't have limitless fiat money to play with. In the recent past, new found mainstream popularity has fueled inflows into all kinds of crypto products sustaining the strong bull runs despite significant and clear risks.
This popularity has little to do with widespread belief in distributed / unregulated financial systems, and more because these assets have outperformed traditional instruments spectacularly, the allure of making ton of money fast. Eventually it will fade either because there is not enough new people who can/will put more money or an unsustainable growth tapers off.
When ( not if) the second set of players leave inevitably after enough scams, the hardcore fans that will remain and prop up the market and keep it going yes. However without non fanatic users there is not enough money to come roaring back like in the past.
To be clear, it may take a few years or more and few cycles of what you say, markets can stay irrational for a very long time, it is unstable equilibrium nonetheless, and eventually will correct permanently
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not clear if it is the easiest target to short, given that many people who use tether are fairly skeptical about how/if the tokens are backed by assets but use it anyway (if the recent Bloomberg story is accurate).
Seriously, how would you short Tether at scale? It's not like you can call up your prime brokerage.
It may be counterintuitive, but the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin would be for Tether to collapse in a cloud of dust. Tether is continually cited as a large risk factor to Bitcoin by people who have gotten past the "it's not real money" objection. But I think it's worth considering what happens if the collapse never comes. If government investigation, findings of wrongdoing, admission of lies, and punishmen…
Indeed. 80-90% pullbacks, multi-year bear markets, the seasoned crypto trader has seen multiple apocalyptic financial disasters, where this simply is a potential next one. It fails to impress.
The really clever ones thrive from these crashes, that's when they buy. Volatility is the feature.
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But they can print more tether, buy bitcoin with that tether, and give you bitcoin as redemptions. This could go on for a very long time.
Can Tether give you Bitcoin as a redemption? Do you have a source for that?
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There are firms that look for good opportunities to short stocks. Find some credible bad news, short the stock, then publicize the bad news. If the news is actually true, this might even be considered a public service (as well as obviously a way to make money). They probably wouldn’t do until they actually got a tip. Also, they might short crypto-related stocks if that’s easier.
I am curious about how that type of activity doesn't constitute insider trading? Presumably having "bad news" would constitute material nonpublic information?
It may be counterintuitive, but the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin would be for Tether to collapse in a cloud of dust. Tether is continually cited as a large risk factor to Bitcoin by people who have gotten past the "it's not real money" objection. But I think it's worth considering what happens if the collapse never comes. If government investigation, findings of wrongdoing, admission of lies, and punishmen…
"What non-users don't get is the fanatical level of devotion by users. It waxes and wanes with the Bitcoin halving cycle, but always comes back stronger than before." Indeed. 80-90% pullbacks, multi-year bear markets, the seasoned crypto trader has seen multiple apocalyptic financial disasters, where this simply is a potential next one. It fails to impress. The really clever ones thrive from these crashes, that's whe…
Tether drove the 2017 bubble (this is when Bitfinex'd got their start) and has driven the 2021 bubble to the tune of $70b.
This resilience wouldn't exist without Tether.
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Zeke = ZK = zero-knowledge?
I guess it's actually his real name, and Zeke short for Ezekiel isn't uncommon. But Zeke can also mean 'cloak'.
Tether is a cryptocurrency with tokens issued by Tether Limited, which in turn is controlled by the owners of Bitfinex
Isn't that absurd? Cryptocurrencies were supposed to be fully decentralized, and not require trusting anybody. This one depends on financial hacks done by a single private company. It seems like beenz.com, only with a different tech stack.