[actually]

TLDR: Tether is the most traded stablecoin. however, i found that Tether has a shady contact location, undisclosed commercial papers they invested that back almost half of Tether's capitalisation, and a possible crypto crash if it collapses. we need a pressure test towards it in order to verify its legitimacy and solvency before the crash if it happens.

i don't mean to make a FUD using this thread, but i see something critical regarding Tether. i can be an idiot talking about this, but i think there is something regarding Tether that should be into our vigilance.

1. preface

USDT or Tether, as everyone here knows, is currently the top stablecoin we are talking about. as of today, its trading volume is more than 100 billion. people use this coin to accelerate the process of transaction compared to normal bank wires. Tether claims that it's fully backed and safe. however, unfortunately, i think there are some doubts that needs should be checked as soon as possible.

let's begin with some questions:

how is Tether actually backed?
do they have real offices? if yes, where?
what will happen if Tether can't deliver certain withdrawal requests?
assuming you have a verified account in Tether, eligible to redeem Tether, according to the official website, how much fee would you have to pay per redemption?

2. the funds assets that back USDT

if you have ever followed up on this, you will realise that Tether is not fully backed by cash. i understand that is normal like other banks, they need to do something such as lending money out to generate profits. YTD Tether posted two proof of funds verified by Moore Cayman. the most recent one here.

why it matter? according to the report, as of 2021.6.30, Tether's market capitalisation was $62B, in which $30B was commercial papers and certificates of deposit. that is almost half of its whole capitalisation! however, unlike the bonds they have invested in, there is no way we can know what they exactly have invested in the "commercial papers" part. they aren't highly stable in fiat value. as of 2021.12.31, that is $24.16B out of a $78.6B; only about $4.2B is in real cash.

in comparison, USDC (2021.10 reports) has reported with only cash in reserve.

3. the most important: Tether lacks the most fundamental contact information about their company.

if you are never aware of what the "contact us" on its website looks like, there you are:

yup, this.

most of the average company would at least have a basic business location. commonly, not having a sufficient physical profile about a company could be a red flag. Tether, having controls over the billions worth of its stablecoin, shouldn't be exempted from this. it's understandable that more people are working at home, but once again, Tether is liable to almost the whole crypto market. what if they run off from it (although very unlikely)? who is going to be liable for the loss?

4. if Tether goes insolvent, the whole crypto market is doomed.

this is not a joke. if Tether suddenly goes insolvent to any withdrawal requests, then Tether is completely worthless. Tether's crash itself won't directly cause the whole crypto market to crash, but the fact is that there are too many major trading pairs involving this, which will cause the market to have maximum fear.

but how it crashes the market? in a very fundamental way by losing one side's value. hypothetically, the price of btc in Tether right now is 55'000, where the exchange rate between Tether and USD is 1-to-1, which means the price of a btc in Tether always is the same as in USD (1 btc == 55'000 USDT == $55'000). if Tether suddenly runs out of ability to keep its value stable, resulting in the price going to $0.5 (probably even lower as it's no longer redeemable), but the price of btc in Tether has not changed (55'000), then btc's actual price in USD will go below $27'500. because there is a finite Tether supply, it's impossible to keep the price by pumping it. basically, the loss of the stablecoin value is a direct cutoff towards cryptos' fiat value.

it's not like a regular stock market, where we trade directly between fiats and stocks. commonly, we trade crypto () using stablecoin, therefore, the stablecoin here is the intermediary between fiat and crypto. the exception is if we trade crypto directly with fiat, but the law is more complicated than i can think of.

5. you have to pay a minimum of $1'000 per redeem request.
according to the fee schedule, you will have to pay at least $1'000 for every single redemption request (0.1% per $1m+ redemption). that means 1% on a 100k Tether. if you are a whale, this sum won't be a big deal. however, to most of us who have less than $100k immediate liquidity are rather a gigantic vault. a typical international wire transfer would only take about $60, so why would it be that much?

in comparison, USDC offered in Coinbase would not charge any fee or at least won't be that much. BUSD offered by Binance would most likely only ask for the necessary wire transfer fee.

6. what should/can we do?
i want to verify if Tether really is that backed by fiat money rather than to ruin the stablecoin, a bank run is necessary. if the price of Tether is not highly impacted under the bank run, it means Tether is a legit stablecoin.

besides, Tether should make public of what they have invested in commercial papers rather than simply coming up to deny the rumours. the denial feels like dodging to reveal the documents. similar to Elon Musk asked WFP about the exact plan of how to solve the world hunger but later they failed to answer.

if it is possible, we should move to any stablecoins that prove their cash solvency over time, to minimise any possible disaster if/when Tether collapses.

thanks to my ted talk, sorry man.

edit: removed the tag "unpopular".
edit 1: added USDC report ref + suggestion to what we could do, fee for withdrawal to fiat.

[What happened::]

What happened:: someone from expocoin scammed me .03 btc when i tried to help someone. i knew that was a scam, though when he did not respond that the address i needed to get.

Scammers Profile Link: not sure, because it did not claim to have a btc profile but it is www.expocoin.com <--- scam site! do not get in

Reference Link:  https://prnt.sc/n1rp41 this is a photo about parts of the transaction
Amount Scammed: .03 btc
Payment Method: bitcoin
Proof of Payment: https://www.blockchain.com/btc/tx/3c988b617d9aeeacb86ae3f7f56966d372d8b75d68d98aed39f02cb5cbd66a88 https://www.blockchain.com/btc/tx/dcd2472d3f7192678b8e6a8a8f2e21930f1d3e5d87d0637ba5ec8a65c796269c
PM/Chat Logs:

hellohelloi just have deposited .0198 btc and i cannot withdraw yet
need deposit 0.02You are new exchanger user.
To access the withdraw you need to make a first deposit for activate your account.
This is done due to the fact that there are frequent cases of resale of BTC and ETF by scammers and avoid spam.
After you making the first deposit, you will be added 0.02 bitcoin to your balance (your deposit).
And you will be available to withdraw.i just have completed the deposit and i still unable to withdraw
let me checkwe have an automatic system for defrosting you have made a 2 deposit, and you need one deposit at 0.02 including commissionyou need to make a deposit at 0.02 with commissionbut can i get my return of btc at this moment? please this is to prove you are not a fraudI can not because your funds are frozenbut can you make an exception to that at once? i don't have any more fundsYou will NOT lose you funds after deposit: they will be able to withdraw too.i can't sorryto get your funds you need to make one more at 0.02 including commissionbut why must be in one transaction thoughbecause the system works that wayyou got absolutely no ability to unfreeze me?i didn't know the rule, and i am newso it was necessary to first contact uswe told you everythingi know that is my fault...is that the amount by exact, or more than?0.02 including commissioni mean, is that by exact or more than .02 after commission?0.025 make depositthat's enough for youi got scammed from a user here just to make a depositmake a deposit and be able to receive your funds, we guaranteebut i can no longer trust at this moment, you should have made a new policy that will allow accumulative deposit to unlock, i am not gonna care and my funds given back to the user in case36hJCAyQ1ivdKx6ysU2YSEntFiNEGeUJjE this address is the in charge, tried to ask me depositsandhe claimed to have 1.3 btc but unable to withdraw?then he made the 1.2 btc to me, asked me to deposit .02 after commission. then i tried to deposit .02 before commission, then i found that the problem.if you wrote us right away we would tell you everything and you would get these fundsthen tell me what exactly happenedi don't mean i can't deposit but i got no more available funds toyou just made a deposit without commissioni know that is my fault, then i made another deposit to fill the insufficiency. now that i transferred all the funds back to that addressand?and what do you want from mei would wish to take the partial refund of .01 in case and i will keep this thing silentI have no funds in your account, I cannot return youyou balanse 0damnso if i got the funds again, could i get refunded in part?if you had a balance you could write an application for the return of a part of your fundsyesdon't you tell me earlier facepalm
You also need to click on the home page Get started and install the extensioni did not install itbut it needs to be installed

this is what happened when i tried to contact support, the word stuck together should be separated.
Additional Notes: i tried this method from shasan's loaning. so i have to apologise that i am likely made him a victim as well
i might not have further proof because the initial conversation was in bitvest site, probably it is gone.

i am planning to build up my own new PC, but since neither Intel not AMD giving a certain power efficiency for my own PC, and i am not prone to gaming except using Blender or minecraft, Raspberry Pi becomes my interest. however as the name implies, even for the third generation, will not be as fast as a i3 or Ryzen 3; that's why i am having a mind of building my own PC with numbers of Raspberry Pis clustered. i bet per one will be costing only 5~6 watts with modest overclocking. any idea of that? i am planning to build up a 20 node Raspberry Pi 3 Cluster, but will that be efficient for rendering?

FYI if i had more money i would build up a 60 node cluster, yet not sure the idea of such.
do you guys have such experience of assembling a cluster like that? i need a budget enthusiast PC lol

[note that i want his honesty about what exactly happened to what he is owing me, rather than simply demanding him to repay me immediately, i understand he has problems during this process, but never been that long in my experience.]

disclaimer: this has been happening since late 2016 i was still using my old mobile phone to contact him, but since the new phone is replaced, i lost almost all of the transaction. do not tag who i am accusing at this moment, because i have just gotten the update from him.
i really have to say a sorry for breaking the relationship between you and me in case.

amount scammed: .033 BTC in that equivalent
profile link : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=358450
transaction: i lost all of them (because i did not backup by mistake)

what happened: it is all come from the day of i wanting him to buy me a serial code of No Limits Coaster Software; since that software won't allow me to use bitcoin, and i trust him that will but with his credit card and then buy for me. that time, $90 (professional version as i wanted) was more than .07 BTC. AFAIK i only had made .05 installments for him. later, he requested for another .01 loan from me due to a certain problem from friends. after that, from skype, i lost all the replies from him for more than 2 months, as i suspected that he was not even giving me any updates. however, due to the price rise of bitcoin, originally he would default me more than .07 btc including a SD card i have last shipped to him, decreased to .033 BTC

additional notes: i requested Letyouearn to grant me a ~1.1 BTC for me to assemble a new computer, he said he would complete that but needed to ask his friends to take a 10~20 BTC loan from them to repay the debts he is defaulting here. however, since June 8th he is never been replying my chat records and even said "every time you call me to ask for the repayment". he did only provide little proof as follows about friend's  update (please help me translate if you can):

i will be updating this thread for more information. note that i want his honesty about what exactly happened to what he is owing me, rather than simply demanding him to repay me immediately, i understand he has problems during this process, but never been that long in my experience.

the 1.1 BTC is not relevant in this accusation.

edit 1: as a campaign manager, if you see his negative tag in the trust, you trust them, and it is exactly referring this accusation, please kindly ignore those red and approve for enroll, in order to increase the chance of repayment/resolution.

since the signature campaign isn't paying really much, i have to post this thread up, my personal text for hire.

you can provide at least .0002 per post or within your ability¹ under these conditions:

• all session shall be counted except games and rounds
• all posts must be at least 120 symbol characters to qualify
• you may wish to check my posts and see if it is constructive, it is fine to
• i might post more than 10~20 replies/threads per day, you decide that if i deserve the reward with those

however, since i am in the gambling signature campaign, i am not dare going to accept the offers with gambling related advertisements, nor am i accepting any scammy websites. subject to correction. if you have offer, gimme a PM or post an offer here.
¹ offer below my expectation will be considered for personal promotion

[warning:]

warning: upon providing an answer, you have to list all relevant solution method, according to the rule of bitcoin forum. this game is open ended; so it depends on how you calculate the number.

in this game, you will have a 3x3 grid, numbers are only from 0 to 99. there are 4 numbers already available on the grid as follows:(nothing on the first line in this example)

36
40	7	48

the goal is to fill up all the numbers with the mathematic connection each other this kind of game allows plus, minus, multiply, division, to the power of, square root, factorial, etc. in terms of 'connection'. you have to use at least 2 numbers horizontally or vertically surrounding the blank spot, which results the valid equation each other, unless lacking numbers surrounding the blank spot to be filled (ie 1 number only surrounding), not allowed to fill in. for an example:

36	43
40	7	48

43 = 36 + 7

since there are no number connecting the top right corner, you can simply ad any number you want:

		81
36	43
40	7	48

validity check is for the newly filled spot only, does not apply to earlier movement, because their connection are based on 2 numbers.

if you are going to use any equation which overloads, take the last 2 integer or decimal (decimal goes first, up to 30 decimal place in actual value, invalid if the decimal place is endless). for an example, you can use 3 numbers too:

		81
36	43	83
40	7	48

1983 = 43*48-81


with the rule, fill up the rest 5 spots:

	5	70
96
	0

disclaimer: i haven't been seeing any thread(s) here to talk about the plinko in general as of this post is created. this thread does not endorse any sites as an referral, for
example reference only.

i would wish to set a thread about the thoughts of playing plinko such as www.luckyb.it www.bitvest.io so on (or somewhere in the moneypot). for me, i have been playing the plinko for a several weeks to seek some of my luck, at a relatively low odds (not the expected return, which remains at least 98%).

the question is:

• 1 which kind of row do you prefer?
• 2 did you win major with your row?
• 3 is triangular plinko a good thing to you?
• 4 how often do you play?
• do you like major payout like in the hardest spot (1 in 65536, like paying 10000x)

etc. feel free to answer or to discuss.

i would think that the drop from $1100 yesterday to as of this thread is started $950, is a trap for sellers because looking at its popularity, it is not the first time bitcoin being volatile. unless bitcoin price drops to ~$850 within a day, it could be unnecessary to sell your bitcoins for some of the people will buy again.
what is Bitcoin Unlimited though?

have been seeing the altcoins such as dogecoin, peercoin, reddcoin, which has unlimited potential supply, however, have been seeing them falling since the end of 2016. so i would wish to ask about something: is the altcoins with that matter unable to sustain? why is those altcoin unpopular?

disclaimer: my PC is not fast enough to synchronise any of the blockchains so i didn't have any Qt wallet, idk if other feature matters.

for the people who are concerning about the AMD is challenging the Intel, i want to know how you would feel about the price of high end CPUs between Ryzen or i7. if the hype of AMD is true, some of the people holding high end PC with Intel are mad about it.

i will stand for 1700 with overclocking to 3.3 GHz.

loan amount: .063 btc
reason: Letyouearn hasn't yet paid me the due, and i am lacking funds now, so i would need a hand for my insufficient cash.
repayment date: as short as 14/2 most of 21/2
repayment: .07

btc address: called later.

i have a 0.01 loan from DarkStar_ but that will be repaid when the signature campaign pays out.
1PaizuriepE2KQX8gCwJ6feN7uGWQRn3us (not the target address, this is to prove my ownership)
lottery248 wants a loan as lacking of cash 2017 2 7
G23jxeMMS4D2wwSdrHT1RTaX536OrRkjcTVsoU5YKU2NXH+jhX3S1gHWTrDGhN+vUQB8VP3HSH/Xm2ivSmBBCzk=

disclaimer: this is just an initial photo, since the production date is subject to funds; actual sticker would differ.

recently, i had told i would attempt to create a new security holo for paper wallet of any currency, but i didn't do anything until a few days ago, then i decided to make a random intial holograhic diagram.
except for background, which will be more dynamic on thr actual, here is my rough work  

the kinegram

the microtext

it is not gonna be the stock holos, nor is it similar to the others. it is gonna be produced by the enterprise level manufacturing plants and has to be made in a high volume to decrease the cost per holo.

if you have any interest or even wants to reserve it, or needs to understand please inform me by posting a reply down below.

i expect to have 50000 and each will be sold at $ .5015(estimation error); let's see the willingness of the people.

this post is subject to correction, if in suspicion, send a PM, quote the problem(s) and lemme know.

i am having some opinions about if the bitcoin goes to the $750 at the beginning of December:
there are more companies using bitcoin related security services, and/or the termination of 500/1000 old Indian Rupee notes are not yet being eased.

guess what, don't be panic on buying excessive bitcoins right now, don't be a greedy. if you bought bitcoins, better go long.

[negotiate in either telegram, this thread or PM if needed.]

i am gonna buy a Satori coin funded using .001 bitcoin which is able to ship to Hong Kong with tracking number for .014 btc, and i will accept any escrow (like registered mail, as long as i will be able to track it).
please send a PM or reply right here if you are interested, i will pay fund to escrow before you send.
negotiate in either telegram, this thread or PM if needed.

(recently i got an idea of doing some DIY holographic paper wallet design. in order to make either the transaction offchain, let the people who don't use bitcoin software but wish to use bitcoin / altcoin physically to use them freely and easily, or as a cold storage.

in that case, in order to create a great and cool sticker, i have a little idea about the design already, but the price of manufacturing is quite expensive though. if i design that, that will be a sticker only because it could be used in altcoins, and that kind of design will be less likely to counterfeit compared to, such as, holograms used in papersafe.

i would with bells on to make the keys in that hologram, however then trust and the security could be less reliable, including less allowance of altcoins if it is premade; that's why it will be a DIY. you need a verify or trustless rather than trust, it could be a disaster.

the question is, in a nutshell: if i created a security hologram for paper wallets, how many people would use that or would you get to use? feel free to give opinion and/or anything else. don't expect too major on this because this might not yet be done until late 2016.)


the physical sticker would be very different when manufactured, if you are interested on those holograms, feel free to send me a PM.
the preview diagram is like this (not the actual or optical effect as not yet finished):
https://i.imgur.com/Y46cwq0 (unable to embed image)

edit 11/9: i am now working on it, stand by.
edit 11/12: unable to draw for PC crash.
edit 1/11/2017: preview of "500" is arrving soon arrived, i designed it. it would be a bit random but with advanced technologies.

since i am not great on the measuration of the best GPU, i would wish to know what your opinion is, regarding AMD and Nvidia. for CPU, should i wait for Zen to build up my next PC?

btw i am supporting AMD for its challenge of pricing, otherwise they would price a lot; i am really looking forward about how fast Zen and Vega is, and see if the high end stuffs need not to be expensive.

anyone? seemingly that the cortex A73 is not costing more than .7 watts at 2.8 gigahertz. in that case, if we cram a processor into a 256 core one with that or sort of, then that would very likely with 2-times performance of a GTX 1080. as well, A73 is just .65mm².

idk if ARM CPU could become a great GPU for hyper performance, at a lower cost. ideas?

which explicitly means to discuss about Zen and Kabylake, as far as i know few of them here talks about it, so i opened this thread to talk.

seems AMD is going all in with Zen and bringing back its glory, for me, if those claims are true, including awesome price, would that be a disaster to Intel? not to mention, AMD had been losing until Q2 2016, net income gone positive again that quarter.

because i am curious about how a ~500 acre (~2 sq km) Land could be sold at $3.8m, this is not really a good reason to me (it is almost 1/3 more area than cedar point).

for the 500 acre land, it is a MLS #201400601.
should i plan to buy one to build a park? or something?

so i had seen someone called “ndnh”, which his name was originally “ndnhc”. how can that name changing be possible? i don’t even know how. 
how can i change my username?