7 HN users recommended this commentary4 months2021–2025score 4.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
HN commenters recommend it as the best single, entertaining overview of Tether's dubious history, and cite it when arguing Tether lacks real USD backing.
Coffeezilla gives a comprehensive history of Tether, the stablecoin issued by a company controlled by the owners of Bitfinex. He lays out accusations that it is not fully backed.
“one of the most comprehensive (and entertaining) takes on this” (HN, 2021)
A YouTuber called Coffeezilla had an entertaining video yesterday that I think is one of the most comprehensive (and entertaining) takes on this. It's pretty damning when you look at all the evidence together. [this video] Even in the off-chance that people with a track record of lying about being backed have suddenly gone legitimate, it's a pretty big indictment of the system that it could grow to the size it did while looking incredibly like a scam .
Comprehensive, entertaining and damning take on Tether.
Saw a really good YT video[1] on Tether yesterday. Breaks down all the sketchiness. But the problem he mentions in the video is a problem with pretty much all stablecoins, in order to function you must have the proper reserves before generating a token, but inevatably greed kicks in and you start thinking what if you minted coins without the backing. USD pegged stablecoins are basically money printing machines in the hands of whoever runs the project. [1]: [this video]
This one explains the Tether scam quite nice: [this video] Edit: summary: 8 people founding the tether company, 7 of them with a criminal background. Lying and denying and then admitting after they have no other option. Yeah, seems like a nice company…
I highly recommend the first five Cas Piancey and Bennett Tomlin podcasts [1] and the (albit a little bit dated) Kalzumeus post [2]. I also really enjoyed the Calacanis podcast with Bitfinex'ed [3] and the Coffeezilla [4]. [1] [link] [2] [link] [3] [link] [4] [this video]
What I don't understand is why major exchanges continue to give tether their customers money when it's not backed by cash? Would an exchange not be incentivised to manage the cash themselves and significantly reduce risk for their customers and business? It seems like huge risk for what looks like a minor convenience. Also, very good video on the history and current state of tether: [this video]
> I don’t hold any tether, and I wouldn’t recommend it to others. But the common opinion that Tether is insolvent might be wrong. Tether, as a stable business, is a money printing machine. I’m not sure it’d be worth risking the business and jail time to pump shitcoins I encourage you to watch Coffeezilla's video about Tether. There's lots of shady stuff going on behind the scenes, like them borrowing $383M from Bitfinex and showing that to an auditor to prove they were solvent (~20:00). [this video]
Reveals shady dealings like borrowing from Bitfinex for audit.
Bullshit. The biggest stable coin, Tether, is pure scam. They are essentially creating money out of nowhere. They were found guilty of massive fraud and were fined $18M [1]. They refuse to get audited by a third-party [2]. The ones that do audit them are just as sketchy as them [3]. I would recommend watching this video to grasp the scope of their fraud [4] [1] - [link] [2] - [link] [3] - [link] [4] - [this video]
Crypto currencies today are basically all decentralized Ponzi schemes inflated in value by the very centralized tether that is is printing something like $4Bn a week of new tether with no US dollar currency known to be backing it: [this video]
Yes, on a centralized entity you're required to trust ("we're totally backed by cash and bonds, for realsies"), as opposed to owning and holding your crypto outright. From their web page: > Transparent > A top auditing firm will attest to the matching supply of BUSD tokens and underlying U.S. dollars on a monthly basis. Note the future tense, as in, "sometime indefinitely away in the future". Their attestations (as opposed to audits) just say that at a certain instant in time they had the required amount in a bank account. That means Paxos could have borrowed it for a short while. Quote [1]: "Any activity prior to or after the Report Dates and Times at 5:00 pm ET was not considered when testing the assertions described above." This is the same trick pointed out by Coffeezilla about a year ago, about Tether. [2] And the one from November is missing. [1] - [link] [2] - [this video]
Source for attestation trick pointed out about Tether.
> They don't claim it's backed 1:1 by USD. They claim it's backed by more or less liquid alternatives They used to, for several years, until they were pressured to prove it and could not (27:05). [this video] They were also investigated and found guilty by the New York Attorney General, and were subsequently banned from activity in New York and fined 18.5M. > Bitfinex and Tether recklessly and unlawfully covered-up massive financial losses to keep their scheme going and protect their bottom lines,” said Attorney General James. “Tether’s claims that its virtual currency was fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times was a lie. [link]
> HN has been talking about how Tether is a scam and how it will blow up AnyMomentNow(TM) for two years Tether managed to come back from the brink of death (user loss of confidence) by co-mingling funds with Bitfinex and getting a third-party to provide an 'attestation' based on money they didn't actually have. This was only discovered years after the fact, and were it not for this deception they would have collapsed ages ago, much like FTX. [this video]
Supports claim Tether survived via deceptive attestation.
Re: 2 and 3. I'd stick to USDC over USDT. [this video] . USDC still has capitalisation statements. USDT doesn't. Eth is indeed slow and expensive, but more people (as in: active wallets) use Solana (a fast and cheap layer 1) than the any of the eth layer 2s these days. Coinbase staff have been caught front running their customers on new tokens listings multiple times now, even after they promised to actively stop it. Whatever's going on in Japan is going on in Japan. Don't trust other people with custody of your funds.
Coffeezilla (on YouTube) has been exposing the Tether scam for almost two years now [1]. Even as a crypto believer (long-term), it’s been fascinating to see this scam survive this long despite being repeatedly exposed. [1]: [this video]
> Tether has lots of experience in this field. They were "pioneer" and they went through a lot worse: Tons of FUD, the Bitfinex exchange hack, lawsuits, bank runs etc... They're experts in fraud and deception. [this video]
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