I don't get the whole USDT thing

[Twyla]

Hello

I've had a Coinbase account for a couple years, just playing around with trades. I want to get more involved, so I'm watching people on Youtube & they're shorting crypto & using leverage, but I don't see it available in Coinbase. After a lot of research, it turns out I need a 'VPN' subscription first since I'm in the US. Alright, ok...

Well I may as well go with an exchange with lower fees while I'm at it, time to take off the training wheels & go with.... let's say Zoomex. One of the Youtube guys likes it, so I guess I do too.

Ok, I open an account, go to deposit some money, and it's impossible. It wants USDT... a coin to buy a coin (?)... ok, so I go to buy some USDT with good ole USD and it says I'll get 900 for my $1000. This ain't making much sense. What happened to a simple USD account.

Then I wonder how I'd withdraw to my bank, and I read "Enjoy selling Tether with transaction fees as low as 1% for bank transfers"


I'm totally lost. I just like to read charts and play the game. Shorting would be fun. All this other stuff has my head in knots. Can someone please help me out here :/

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[SickDayIn]

First of all, if you've read online you need a VPN to access different parts of the exchanges functionality, this isn't by design, this is an attempt to evade the terms of service of the site, so I highly recommend you do not do this as you risk your account being banned and funds frozen.

Whilst you deposited USD dollars and the exchange is holding that, the exchange has millions of other customers from regions where they don't deposit USD, they deposit their own local currency. The reason BTC and other crypyocurrencies as traded against USDT, Tether and other stable coins is to ensure that all customers and thus demand are trading on the same pairs / order books. When you convert USD dollars to USDT, you are actually buying a cryptocurrency which can be withdrawn..I can't speak to the fees that Coinbase would charge you on this, but it is a transaction and would occur fees, as technically you could withdraw the USDT to your own wallet.

[Twyla]

First of all, if you've read online you need a VPN to access different parts of the exchanges functionality, this isn't by design, this is an attempt to evade the terms of service of the site, so I highly recommend you do not do this as you risk your account being banned and funds frozen.

Looks like literally everyone does it from what I've seen on Youtube & in Discord. Guys with $10 million accounts down to guys in their basement. Everyone everywhere is longing & shorting & using leverage all day long all the time. Apparently 100% of the ones in the US use a VPN. I think? is that how it works?

Whilst you deposited USD dollars and the exchange is holding that, the exchange has millions of other customers from regions where they don't deposit USD, they deposit their own local currency. The reason BTC and other crypyocurrencies as traded against USDT, Tether and other stable coins is to ensure that all customers and thus demand are trading on the same pairs / order books. When you convert USD dollars to USDT, you are actually buying a cryptocurrency which can be withdrawn..I can't speak to the fees that Coinbase would charge you on this, but it is a transaction and would occur fees, as technically you could withdraw the USDT to your own wallet.

Still lost 

[Darker45]

I hope I'm wrong but it seems your excitement is born out of misleading YouTube videos. I doubt you were sufficiently informed and prepared by the videos you're watching. It's possible these videos are purely made to entice viewers to open accounts, make deposits, and trade on platforms which are otherwise unknown and sketchy. With this in mind, such videos make everything look so simple and easy and highly profitable when in reality it may be the complete opposite.

Anyway, if I'm not mistaken, Coinbase is available to US residents, so no need to use VPN, and they also have margin trading. If not Coinbase, you might want to read reviews on Kraken, Gemini, and other top platforms available in the US. Haven't heard of Zoomex.

[Twyla]

seems like you're a bit out of the loop

and btw i said i have a coinbase acct. multiple times.

[btc78]

Well I may as well go with an exchange with lower fees while I'm at it, time to take off the training wheels & go with.... let's say Zoomex. One of the Youtube guys likes it, so I guess I do too.

I think your first mistake is listening to those youtube videos. It is often not advisable to take youtube videos as references for your crypto decisions. Yes they might help you have some idea about something but they’re usually not very accurate.

Ok, I open an account, go to deposit some money, and it's impossible. It wants USDT... a coin to buy a coin (?)... ok, so I go to buy some USDT with good ole USD and it says I'll get 900 for my $1000. This ain't making much sense. What happened to a simple USD account.

I’m not very familiar with the regulations about shorting especially in the US but the requirements of vpn and usdt are probably because of said regulations. You need to read more about the possible restrictions that are preventing you from what you want to do.

Do not blindly follow youtubers as you might be putting yourself at risk.

[Twyla]

i'm old enough to be your mom's little sister, but thanks for all the parental advice guys. appreciate the heartfelt concern.

it's a good thing people like you guys are out here to warn people like me about the dangers of life.

you're clearly smarter than i am & know people better than i do.



ha ha ha i think this is the wrong forum ha ha ha



 

[mk4]

If you're from the US, I would recommend using DEXs instead because centralized exchange + VPN isn't really a good mix as your funds can get locked up.

This is going to be a bit complicated at the start for you if you have no experience trading on-chain, but yea.

- HyperLiquid
- dYdX
- WOO X

Best of luck. Make sure you know what you're doing.

[Apocollapse]

If you want to trade with leverage directly using USD, you should find forex brokers instead of crypto exchange. USDT isn't that secure even though it has biggest volume trading, but it's not 100% completely backed by real USD.

Anyway, if I'm not mistaken, Coinbase is available to US residents, so no need to use VPN, and they also have margin trading. If not Coinbase, you might want to read reviews on Kraken, Gemini, and other top platforms available in the US. Haven't heard of Zoomex.

Yeah, the article mentioned US citizen able to have margin trading https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/trading-and-funding/derivatives/futures-intro

Not sure why he need to use VPN, but since he's the one who doing it, probably what he said is true.

[Findingnemo]

I don't do leverage and futures, I recommend you not to do it as well.

You shouldn't need VPN to access a site and if you do then it's not available in your region/country which probably blacklisted by the government itself so never risk your money on such platforms.

Ok, I open an account, go to deposit some money, and it's impossible. It wants USDT... a coin to buy a coin (?)... ok, so I go to buy some USDT with good ole USD and it says I'll get 900 for my $1000. This ain't making much sense. What happened to a simple USD account.

Then I wonder how I'd withdraw to my bank, and I read "Enjoy selling Tether with transaction fees as low as 1% for bank transfers"

USDT is one of the token that has most pairs, so if you are looking to buy particular coin or token then you should have any coins that's paired with that and that's how trading in centralized exchanges works.

900 USDT for 1000USD is bit surprising because USDT can swing around .98USD and very rare beyond that so the exchange you are accessing lacks liquidity so you are forcing to pay higher to get tokens, again not a good sign for a trading platform.

[KiaKia]

If a crypto exchange doesn't support your location, do not try to find a way around it, because they will know and they will probably use it against you.

I also find using VPN to evade restriction as a headache, you are better off using another crypto exchange that supports your location.

Other exchanges like Binance or Kucoin supports Futures and Leverage trading too, there are others like Bybit, OKX and HTX that also supports Futures and Leverage trading, try them out.

This is way safer than using VPN.

[adaseb]

The original reason why USDT was created was because you could have crypto only CEX which were mostly used for alt trading. It would be alot of work to KYC for every exchange and have to wire money in and out just to buy a few alts that your main exchange didn't have.

So along came USDT, where you can buy with USD and send those USDT to any exchange to buy any alts you would like. Because its onchain you don't need to worry about wiring money back and forth between banks.

USDT is priced at $1, so you should get $1000 USDT for your $1000 USD.

[God bless u]

Let me tell you the basic fundamental why this is happening to you. The violation of rights of a particular site will lead to many problems like this. I mean if they have set that US people can't do it why are you forcing it? Go and talk to your government officials about why you have banned or not allowed these sites in the US and convince them to do so..

If you will continue this type of action remember you'll be attacked by hackers as well because the site's security layer will not be fully deployed to your account due to intervention VPN.

[Ale88]

Hello

I've had a Coinbase account for a couple years, just playing around with trades. I want to get more involved, so I'm watching people on Youtube & they're shorting crypto & using leverage, but I don't see it available in Coinbase. After a lot of research, it turns out I need a 'VPN' subscription first since I'm in the US. Alright, ok...

Well I may as well go with an exchange with lower fees while I'm at it, time to take off the training wheels & go with.... let's say Zoomex. One of the Youtube guys likes it, so I guess I do too.

Ok, I open an account, go to deposit some money, and it's impossible. It wants USDT... a coin to buy a coin (?)... ok, so I go to buy some USDT with good ole USD and it says I'll get 900 for my $1000. This ain't making much sense. What happened to a simple USD account.

Then I wonder how I'd withdraw to my bank, and I read "Enjoy selling Tether with transaction fees as low as 1% for bank transfers"


I'm totally lost. I just like to read charts and play the game. Shorting would be fun. All this other stuff has my head in knots. Can someone please help me out here :/

First of all, as other users have already pointed out, if you are in the US I would avoid using a VPN to access services that you are not supposed to use because I guess you did a KYC so they know you're American, don't they?

Regarding exchanging USD for USDT, I don't use Coinbase but you're telling me that there is a 10% fee? That doesn't make any sense. At that point just buy BTC using USD and then sell it for USDT.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

Ok, I open an account, go to deposit some money, and it's impossible. It wants USDT... a coin to buy a coin (?)... ok, so I go to buy some USDT with good ole USD and it says I'll get 900 for my $1000. This ain't making much sense. What happened to a simple USD account.

If only I could understand you clearly, are you trying to say that you needed to buy some USDT, and you were told the amount of USDT you are likely to get for $1000 investment is 900 USDT, right? is that what you mean? Hence, so if that's what you meant then I will like to explain to you that in most exchanges such as Coinbase & Binance, the average price of 1 USDT is always $1.1, which must have been the reason why with your $1000 you were given 900 USDT (i.e $1.1 x 900 = $990) while $10 deducted for transaction fee, summing everything $1000

[SickDayIn]

First of all, if you've read online you need a VPN to access different parts of the exchanges functionality, this isn't by design, this is an attempt to evade the terms of service of the site, so I highly recommend you do not do this as you risk your account being banned and funds frozen.

Looks like literally everyone does it from what I've seen on Youtube & in Discord. Guys with $10 million accounts down to guys in their basement. Everyone everywhere is longing & shorting & using leverage all day long all the time. Apparently 100% of the ones in the US use a VPN. I think? is that how it works?

Whilst you deposited USD dollars and the exchange is holding that, the exchange has millions of other customers from regions where they don't deposit USD, they deposit their own local currency. The reason BTC and other crypyocurrencies as traded against USDT, Tether and other stable coins is to ensure that all customers and thus demand are trading on the same pairs / order books. When you convert USD dollars to USDT, you are actually buying a cryptocurrency which can be withdrawn..I can't speak to the fees that Coinbase would charge you on this, but it is a transaction and would occur fees, as technically you could withdraw the USDT to your own wallet.

Still lost 

Regarding your comment around the use of VPNs, your knowledge should not be coming from social media, that is how you can make uninformed decisions. You need to do your own research and form your own conclusions, and go directly to the source of truth - the exchange's terms of service. There is no way that Coinbase allows customers to trade "new functionality" when they turn a VPN on, that is just outright insane.

Regarding your comment "still lost", it might be worthwhile doing more research into understanding how order books work in trading platforms. For every buyer, there is a seller, and they are matched up. Trading in USDT, a stable coin pegged to USD, rather than actual US dollars, means that everyone is trading on the same pair. So all buyers and sellers are trading on BTC/USDT, rather than BTC/USD, BTC/CAD, BTC/INR, BTC/GBP, BTC/EUR and so on.

[SmartGold01]

Well I may as well go with an exchange with lower fees while I'm at it, time to take off the training wheels & go with.... let's say Zoomex. One of the Youtube guys likes it, so I guess I do too.

I am a bit lost about zoomex did you go making account over there since the Youtube guy mentioned about the zoomex?
Most times those guys who uploads videos on Youtube always have their site, like unreliable and untrusted Exchange where they could lure you to go make account after which you are asked to move your funds over there. And again you said you like it, how? Have you ever used the zoomex before what was your experiences while using the exchange as the Youtube guy says.

Actually you may violate something here because since because most of the exchange specially exchange Coinbase trying to use VPN you might be violating their rules and it's not using it while your country is already permit to use them without haven go through vpn. What happened is, when asking sensitive questions like this don't go to Youtube I think here is the best place because you could be well guided than going over there, we always have an open discussion here where you could be well protected by some reputable users and there is every high risk of getting scammed on Youtube.

[oktana]

I hope I'm wrong but it seems your excitement is born out of misleading YouTube videos. I doubt you were sufficiently informed and prepared by the videos you're watching. It's possible these videos are purely made to entice viewers to open accounts, make deposits, and trade on platforms which are otherwise unknown and sketchy. With this in mind, such videos make everything look so simple and easy and highly profitable when in reality it may be the complete opposite.

Anyway, if I'm not mistaken, Coinbase is available to US residents, so no need to use VPN, and they also have margin trading. If not Coinbase, you might want to read reviews on Kraken, Gemini, and other top platforms available in the US. Haven't heard of Zoomex.

My thoughts exactly. The dedication in the videos sometimes shows their true intentions. I have noticed that some tutorial videos on YouTube are just promotional and they are really making people use the service and get paid for it, whereas they know that it isn’t the best service for what they are trying to do. Probably what happened to him there cause it sounds like a lot of trouble.

[o48o]

First of all, if you've read online you need a VPN to access different parts of the exchanges functionality, this isn't by design, this is an attempt to evade the terms of service of the site, so I highly recommend you do not do this as you risk your account being banned and funds frozen.

Looks like literally everyone does it from what I've seen on Youtube & in Discord. Guys with $10 million accounts down to guys in their basement. Everyone everywhere is longing & shorting & using leverage all day long all the time. Apparently 100% of the ones in the US use a VPN. I think? is that how it works?

Using VPN for privacy is very different to using VPN to escape regulations. SickDayIn is absolutelty right, and even if you see others do it, it doesn't make it more legal. So id you do it, do it while acknowledging and accepting all the risks. And maybe don't complain if your account gets gets frozen and suspended, because you have zero legal claims for getting your account back after that.

And you still wonder what happened to usd? Even though you are using vpn? Really?

And to top of that, i wouldn't put too much trust to any of the youtubers or random people from the internet telling they have millions.

Also high leverage isn't a magic ticket to riches. It's really risky and changes are you'll get liquidated. Especially if your knowledge about it is from these same people. And if you have difficulties understanding differences between usdt and usd in the first place.