[davidlee1435]

Thought experiment: how much USDT is made unredeemable every year? including through lost private keys, freezing related to sanctions, etc

If you think 1% is a reasonable number, that’s 1BN per year at current market cap. Tethers been around for 10 years. Dead funds also compound.

Let’s say Tether was grossly insolvent (ie only had 50% of reserves) for the first 10BN in market cap (in other words, for the first 5 years of their existence). In addition to the 6BN+ of interest income they earn every year, there’s 1BN of reserves that will never get redeemed added every year

If Tether was insolvent before, they just need time to change that

[skybrian]

I’m doubtful these numbers are realistic, but a more conventional explanation is that stablecoins can earn interest on conservative investments (like treasuries) but don’t pay interest, which should be profitable enough if they don’t get too greedy.

This is very roughly similar to banking. It’s an unregulated bank, but it’s not inevitable that they’ll implode.