No, I'm saying that when people on exchanges like Bitfinex "cash out" they're really getting freshly issued Tether that isn't backed by anything. It's fraud. The scam works as long as you can keep the price pumped up (new Tether issues seem to occur like clockwork during BTC sell offs), but if the price plunges they'll be insolvent in a hurry. Let's say they bought BTC with $100m of freshly minted USDT back when the price was $20,000 (round numbers are easier)... Instead of $100m in USD backing that issue they would now have ~$50m in BTC. Tough luck for anyone who wants to exchange their USDT for USD.

This would be something like a run on a bank, except without the FDIC to step in and make sure everyone gets their money out.

Accepting USDT is akin to giving Bitfinex an interest free loan with a high chance of default--no possible upside and lots of possible downside. No one should use any exchange that deals with USDT in any way.

It would make them "bitcoin rich". They still would need to convert to USD at some point. Which, if their buying and holding is what drove the price higher, would subsequently crash the price.