[pja]

It’s not that long ago that Tether was claiming that all reserves were cash deposits.

Now something like 75% of the reserves are loans to ... well, who knows? My guess is other crypto-companies, but it’s impossible to tell.

(It’s also very weird to lump together “bonds” and “gold” in the same pot - these are completely different asset classes.)

If one were of a cynical turn of mind (and who wouldn’t be, given Tether’s history?) one might suspect that the commercial paper consisted of loans of freshly printed USDT to crypto companies & trading platforms who are using it to trade cryptocurrencies (because you can’t really use USDT for anything else at this scale). One might also suspect similar things about other entries in this breakdown.

Tether is a wildcat bank.

[jimmydorry]

I mean, this was exactly what Tether was made for. Moving large amounts of USD frictionlessly between exchanges without causing taxable events or losing money to spreads.

The top purchasers of USDT would be exchanges and "whales" (ranging from the extremely large crypto traders to the odd investment firms / hedge funds).

It wouldn't be surprising at all if the entities purchasing USDT are ultimately holding onto their USD but using the Tether issued to them and paying what essentially becomes just a transaction fee. As long as everyone can prove to Tether that they are good for what they purchase, the IOU trading scheme doesn't necessarily have to end in bloodshed / collapse either.

[dillondoyle]

Yeah I have no idea what the truth is. They aren't regulated it seems. But my point was this isn't a news report, it's labeled opinion. And reporting only on what Tether released I think the headline is clickbait and article lacks context of what marketable securities means.