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Comment by woodpanel | Hacker News Reader

Sweethaert, don't waste your popcorn watching that dumpster fire. The real show starts once Tether "de-re-pegs".

Agreed, that’s the one domino I’m waiting for to fall. Once tether collapses it’s instantly going to take about 25% of Bitcoins price down with it, and a whole other series of events will probably set in motion. Everything will start trending to zero.

I'm wondering if it's just going to be 25%.

How many investors actually understand the technology? Who (even here at HN) has read a whitepaper? I've read some, and have to say it became a personal running gag of how many pages it would take until the authors completely descend into fogging the reader with a mumbo-jumbo of made up words ("The Tangle").

But more specifically Tether stands at half the marketcap of Etheruem [0] and represents the largest trade volume (ie that of Bitcoin and Etherium combined) [1]

[0] Marketcap ETH: 147 Bn USD, USDT: 72 Bn USD

[1] Volume BTC: 63 Bn USD, ETH: 42 Bn USD, USDT: 103 Bn USD

I love how cocksure people are of Tether's decline. Do you believe reading a bitcoin (or IOTA) whitepaper is sufficient to understanding market structure because I get the sense that you do not understand it.

If you are so sure, feel free to short Tether.

USDT ticks all the checkboxes of prior Ponzi's I've experienced but please, enlighten me.

Stablecoins in principle face the issue of pegging against something that dillutes at will.

But specifically USDT: How is Tether's peg supposed to work if it's alledged backing assets consist of other crypto assets ?! Shouldn't they seek less crypto exposure for stability?

Assets which are BTW unsatisfactory disclosed considering a) comparison with established equity markets and b) that such disclosure only exists at all due to law-enforcement.

Is there a place one can short Tether, that can also be trusted to pay out on a short position in the event of a catastrophic Tether collapse? I.e. not a crypto exchange?

See how tech savvy your local bookie is?

1. Shorting practicalities for Tether not clear. 2. Need confidence 3rd party will pay out. 3. Market can stay irrational longer than I can stay solvent. 4. Especially high risks when dealing with an entity which for the moment can print money to manipulate markets.

In short, I’m confident it will fail and fairly spectacularly but I don’t know when and I’m also not sure how to go about shorting it.

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