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Comment by xur17 | Hacker News Reader

The graphs show a strong correlation between printing of USDT and the Bitcoin price rising, but it's not clear to me which one triggers the other.

Interestingly, USDC seems to follow similar minting patterns, and they post quarterly audits of their books / are much better regulated.

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They are better regulated and therefore less risky than Tether, which raises the interesting question, Why is USDC circulation only 20% of Tethers...

I agree, and it does surprise me, but I think it's a mix of 1. tether has been around a lot longer and is on a lot more exchanges 2. tether is.. less well controlled by US regulators and hence better for.. questionable exchanges to list.

Challenge there is that it doesn't fit the narrative that Tether give about the demand being from "institutional investors". That kind of customer tends (IMO) to be very risk averse.

Of course it is possible that Tether are getting custom, but not the kind that wants to leave a bank trail. But if that's the case they're going to fall foul of the regulators sooner or later...

> Challenge there is that it doesn't fit the narrative that Tether give about the demand being from "institutional investors"

Market makers and trading shops with 7-8 figure funds playing with riskier cryptos or trying to tap worldwide volume.

It's not MicroStrategy and Mass Mutual Insurance using Tethers

Almost as if crypto is mostly about investment speculation and gambling, and not so much about actually useful assets.

Have you considered the fact that "better regulated" might not be an advantage for someone using it as a capital flight tool? A big value proposition of Tether as an on-ramp is its discretion.

Abolutely I have, I also think that regulators in places like the USA are very likely to crack down on any company providing that kind of service :)

The most likely threat to Tether as a currency (IMO), is that one or more large countries outlaws its use, and/or decides to prosecute its owners...

Don't put too much hope on that. The only country that would realistically single Tether out to "outlaw" it would be the US. They may do so, but even then they won't be able to stop the redeeming process from taking place abroad. That may mark the beginning of a slow decent, but no threat to current holders of the token IMO.

Could be a first-mover advantage for Tether and the fact that there haven't really been alternatives for a long time. Even if there are now, people are slow to catch on...

> They are better regulated

You just answered your own question.

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