$1M bounty for details on Tether’s backing
It may be counterintuitive, but the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin would be for Tether to collapse in a cloud of dust. Tether is continually cited as a large risk factor to Bitcoin by people who have gotten past the "it's not real money" objection.<p>But I think it's worth considering what happens if the collapse never comes. If government investigation, findings of wrongdoing, admission of lies, and punishment aren't enough to shake Tether users out of their trees, then what would, exactly?<p>Ethereum allowed a claw-back of funds lost fair and square to a defective contract. Where is Ethereum now? Oh yeah, near an all-time high and a market cap approaching half a trillion dollars.<p>What non-users don't get is the fanatical level of devotion by users. It waxes and wanes with the Bitcoin halving cycle, but always comes back stronger than before.<p>If Tether did somehow implode and users left in droves, something else would come along to take its place and within a year or two and the entire Bitcoin ecosystem would come roaring back stronger than ever.