There have been a lot of accusations about the Tether/ Bitfinex relationship, and whether or not they are illicitly manipulating the bitcoin market. Considering the unprecedented bitcoin rally, the fact that Tether 'printed' 2 billion coins last week, and the rapidly approaching court date with the New York Attorney General, I found this article very informative.
I think the writing is good quality, nice to read. And it provides a detailed overview of the whole situation, and the history of how Tether came to this point.
> rapidly approaching court date with the New York Attorney General
OH MAN! I thought they settled already but I guess this is still on going. Do you have more details on this? I really think Bitfinex's defence is very weak and they could be charged with wire fraud and money laundering.
If what I hear is true then the drug cartels have been successfully using cryptocurrencies and bitfinex to allegedly launder their money and its participants and speculators may have played a role.
I expect many people to face the courts or head to jail.
Yeah, I'm not super well versed on this, I think they settled a separate issue a while ago you might be thinking of.
It's surprisingly hard to find info on this, buried in a bunch of crap to do with the bitcoin going nuts. I'll dig through my history I read something the other day. Maybe 'court date' wasn't the right thing, but some sort of deadline is soon, and they don't want to extend any more. Here's a few things
So, Bitcoin is a fiat currency. Not government-controled*, but still fiat (despite some Bitcoin evangelists preaching "Bitcoin is not a fiat currency!")
Now, Tether seems to be also a fiat currency not because it is backed by another fiat currency (US Dollars, but even then Tether will still be technically a pegged fiat currency) but because of the fait that it is backed by US Dollars.
Well, when you can't exchange Tether for USD and they can print as much as they want, and everybody just takes their word that they have the cash backing up the 1:1 ratio which is volatile (when it shouldnt')
If it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it probably is a duck. But hey, I'm just a buttcoiner.
I think the writing is good quality, nice to read. And it provides a detailed overview of the whole situation, and the history of how Tether came to this point.