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by mister_tee 1200 days ago
Tether claims they have completely exited their position in commercial paper and are currently over 70% in US T-Bills.

https://tether.to/en/transparency/#reports

Disclaimer that I'm a bit of a Tether skeptic, but if I'm wrong and they either were in, or have been able to get to, a fully-collateralized position of mostly treasuries and are earning 5% interest while paying 0% on USDT, good for them and good for regular people who won't be left holding bags.

I'll always consider Tether in the context of their July 2021 CNBC interview with Deirdre Bosa. Timestamps are relative to the copy at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBEqyiO35cQ

I don't think they've said who the commercial paper counterparties were and claim it was an important trade secret. Traders in the US commercial paper market say they had never heard of the Tether folks which was odd given their attestations would have given them a top 10 global holding (17:20). Explanation, they use intermediaries. Will they give names or details on the intermediaries? Can't, trade secret.

Did they hold Chinese commercial paper? Dodged the question twice (6:30 and re-ask 7:35).

Where are the CEO and CFO of this company that holds $60B of assets? Why don't they talk to media? (24:40)

But hopefully we'll get assurance regarding the reserves soon. They were excited to promise a formal audit in "months not years" during that interview (27:42)... looking forward to this spring so the audit can be released before we hit two years.

(edit: trying to shorten)

2 comments

They’ve exited the position in ‘commercial paper’ that couldn’t possibly have been true?

What proof verified by third parties is there that any of their assertions are true? There never has been one and there never will be.

Tether are an obvious fraud run by fraudsters, caught several times committing fraud and already banned in many jurisdictions. They deserve zero trust and when this ecosystem collapses they will go to 0.

Yes USDT has management flaws but these are caused by limitations placed on their access to banking services - they have a long history of making sure they can maintain peg in spite of constant attacks from regulatory authorities, short sellers, and negative media publicity.

No, I don’t recommend using USDT. But with the regulated coins being operated much more poorly than USDT, it may be the best option in certain situations.

I would say the flaws are caused by deliberate fraud, and I don't trust their figures or those of crypto exchanges, given they have close relations with several large exchanges.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/crypto-companies-behind-tether-...

> Tether claims

Over the years Tether has claimed many things. The sum total of their claims that turned out to be true is 0.

Is this actually true? Tether has remained pegged at $1 USD since its inception (i.e., stable).

Why all the Tether hate? Is it because a US company doesn't own it, or is there more to it?

> Tether has remained pegged at $1 USD since its inception (i.e., stable).

This has nothing to do with the validity of their Tether

> Why all the Tether hate? Is it because a US company doesn't own it, or is there more to it?

Or is it because they are fraudulent scammers that reneged on any claim or promise they ever made with regards to the source of their funds?

Are they really? Where's the data to show for this? Are there actual datapoints? (not rhetorical)
Yes, they are, really.

Do you work for Tether by any chance? Only a person living in the cave for the past five years wouldn't know the history of Tether at least in part.

Relevant links:

- https://amycastor.com/2019/01/17/the-curious-case-of-tether-...

- https://bitfinexed.medium.com/tether-is-setting-a-new-standa...

To quote NY Attorney General, "Tether’s claims that its virtual currency was fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times was a lie"