TO CRITICS, predicting cryptocurrencies’ value is like flipping a coin. Volatility is so high, they say, that a buyer might as well place a wager at a casino. Others see a more direct cause for daily price movements of virtual money: changes in the supply of tokens. And when the company that makes those tokens is suspected of fraud, the casino itself trembles.
The shockwave is caused by Tether’s unique status. Its issuer, also called Tether, is the “central bank of the crypto world,” says David Gerard of Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain, a website that tracks the sector. Many cryptocurrency exchanges struggle to obtain bank accounts, because the market’s opacity makes it hard to keep tabs on flows of funds or to detect money-laundering. That makes lenders nervous. For those exchanges, Tether acts as a dollar substitute.
The allegations will provide doubters some relief—and more reasons to worry. Because Bitfinex was having trouble getting accounts at banks, the exchange operator used a Panamanian firm, Crypto Capital, as an intermediary to wire dollars to traders, Ms James says. She claims that last year Bitfinex entrusted over $1bn to Crypto Capital, “without any written contract or assurance”.
US dollar is a world currency and they will go to any length in defending that position.
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