Tether Says Stablecoin Is Only Backed 74% by Cash, Securities

Re:Tether Says Stablecoin Is Only Backed 74% by Cash, Securi... by e_tm_ on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @05:57PM (#19792417)

This is assuming that the stated 74% number is true. Fool me once...

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Re:Tether Says Stablecoin Is Only Backed 74% by Cash, Securi... by saalweachter on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @07:38PM (#19793109)

If it's a fake number, it's an interesting choice.

They aren't claiming to be 99% or 90% backed, which would be similarly disbelieved by the same people who disbelieved the 100% claim.

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Re:Tether Says Stablecoin Is Only Backed 74% by Cash, Securi... by jeremyjh on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @08:39PM (#19793461)

Suppose the real number is 3%. 74% sounds pretty good as a way to soften the blow a bit. It would be best to let the air out over a matter of weeks than minutes.

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Re:Tether Says Stablecoin Is Only Backed 74% by Cash, Securi... by saalweachter on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @09:36PM (#19793776)

I feel like there could be a lot of real numbers that are much bigger than 3% but still devastatingly low. 10%? 30%? 45%?

Also, do they break down the composition of that backing between "cash" and "short-term securities" anywhere, and how many of those "short-term securities" are real assets like T-bills, and how many are unsecured debt that there isn't the money to repay?

74% could be a "real" number ... but it could still be the case that there is only cash to cover 10% of the existing Tethers, and the remaining 64% is loans to companies that can only repay that ten cents on the dollar.

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