S&P 500 Analysis & ETF Trading

[kiy]

Tether crypto...I've never heard of them...

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4131159-regulators-must-investigate-bitcoin-tether
Tether is a cryptocurrency issued by Tether Limited that is supposed to be backed by USD reserves, hence allowing traders to have a portable version of the dollar. Numerous indications of fraud (failure to produce an audit, opaque banking relationships, strong correlation between Tether’s supply, and the price of Bitcoin, among other things) led me to believe that Tether Limited was issuing fraudulent Tethers (i.e not backed by USD) and funneling them into other exchanges through Bitfinex to buy Bitcoin, rapidly increasing its price in the process. Today, I present additional indications of fraud that confirm my hypothesis regarding the flow of funds (i.e. from Tether Limited to other exchanges via Bitfinex). Furthermore, I believe that regulators and investors should have a keen interest in the matter now that Bitcoin is mixing itself with the real world economy.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4131159-regulators-must-investigate-bitcoin-tether
Before I continue, I want to say that ordinarily I am not an alarmist. I have been consistently bullish on the economy, and I continue to believe that this is the case. However, as real financial products are being launched by reputable financial institutions (e.g. futures and ETFs), the financial health of the real economy may be in jeopardy if this Tether issue is left unchecked. If my suspicions prove to be correct, Bitcoin’s price has been massively inflated by the release of fraudulent Tethers, meaning that it will be subjected to a massive and sudden collapse in the (maybe far) future. To emphasize why this matters, think back to the financial crisis, there were tremendous amounts of toxic assets that were written down to nothing suddenly and destroyed the banks’ equity. If Bitcoin becomes institutionalized and widely adopted before my concerns can be addressed, Bitcoin and its derivatives will end up being a toxic asset sitting on the banks' balance sheet as well, waiting to implode.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4133884-bitcoin-additional-suspicious-developments?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-widget
Tether Limited has minted another 350 million Tethers (that's a rate of 13 billion per year). At the time of writing, there were over 1.2 billion Tethers outstanding. Meanwhile, no one actually knows or seems to care about where Tether Limited is holding the USD funds. If market participants truly care about the integrity of the cryptocurrency, this should be the most pressing issue at hand.

...this game of confidence will inevitably collapse, but as with anything in a market, anything can be real as long as enough people believe in it.

It is astounding that mainstream Bitcoin media aren't treating Tethers more seriously. Even exchanges (Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), CME (CME)) are marching ahead with plans to introduce ETFs based on Bitcoin futures. Packaging a complex asset into futures then ETFs to create artificial liquidity, I wonder what could go wrong? Perhaps everyone is too busy counting their paper gains, but I must warn market participants that if my suspicions prove to be accurate, the wealth that is being created is just an illusion. It is in the interest of all stakeholders to ensure that manipulation does not stifle blockchain innovation, or worse, cause the next financial crisis should this be allowed to perpetuate.