4. There are some well researched articles showing that the Bitfinex/USD Tether operation has essentially been responsible for the ENTIRE price rise in bitcoin right from $180 to where we are today
Having said that they do claim to have proven the funds and even if tether is worth 0, it still only accounts for only 2.1% of the total market cap of bitcoin, so appart from the FUD value, it's relitivly meaningless.
I don't understand why people continue to make this argument as if it's significant.
2% of bitcoin's marketcap is HUGE and easily enough to control the entire market, since only a tiny proportion bitcoin's supply is ever to be found on orderbooks. The significant ratio is not Tether Marketcap/Bitcoin marketcap but Tether Marketcap/Bitcoin Orderbook size.
Anyway, it doesn't matter. Just the fact that there's an arbitrarily controlled counterfeit money supply that requires no backing, is supported by the biggest exchanges, and is created at will by a private entity in the Cayman Islands is easily enough to scam the entire industry and implode the market if and when it goes tits up.
Here in fact is the "MT Gox" effect right in front of our faces:
Your fear is well founded.
But Bitcoin is stronger and more important than Tether. Tether going tits up as you say would have a significant negative impact. But I think it would be less than the impact of Gox in the past.
Bitfinex and their USDT should be shaking in their boots with Fidelity, Bakkt etc coming on board. The tiddlywinks days of shady exchanges and monopoly money are coming to and end.
With fireworks? Maybe. But it might not matter in the end. The things that are coming will dwarf all this in the end.
They don't control 2%, the tether users hold the 2%.
like on 22nd April 2017 when tether hit 92 cents, as the volume for bitcoin buys increased and the price went from 1.3k to 20k.
What makes you think that the liquidity problems aren't happening on other non-tether exchanges?
Not saying it's a good situation, but i am saying people like to feed the fear, especially on this thread.
