Tether isn't what cryptocurrencies was/is supposed to be. It's as if you took Herbalife as a valuable/honest/model player in the dietary supplement market...
" It's as if you took Herbalife as a valuable/honest/model player in the dietary supplement market..."
Are they not? Shakes can be a decent way to lose weight. Seems to be that people are willing to pay a premium for the "community". But IMHO saying their stuff is overpriced is like saying beer in a bar is overpriced because you can buy a beer for one dollar in the supermarket. Yes, it is correct. In some way.
There's nothing wrong, at least conceptually, with Herbalife's products, protein shakes.
However, Herbalife's success comes from their incredibly shady and destructive pyramid scheme that preys on individuals and tricks them into acquiring debt in exchange for becoming "distributors" of Herbalife products. According to the FTC [1], "it's virtually impossible to make money selling Herbalife products".
I recommend the documentary Betting on Zero [2] for more insight into Herbalife, as well as the fascinating story of Bill Ackman's failed attempt at shorting their stock at a huge scale.
Betting on Zero is a great documentary. If you want a competing view point, you should read the blog posts by John Hempton, an Australian hedge fund manager.
Not the parent, but I imagine what they are talking about is the Herbalife depends more on recruiting new members than they are from selling product. I would link but just googling "bill ackman herbalife" will lead you down infinite rabbit holes.
Billions of Tether were printed, and then used to buy Bitcoin. That means Bitcoin's current price is supported (to some degree) by Tether.
Whether its catastrophic or not... well... time will tell. But its certainly a worry of some people.