Epicenter brings you in-depth conversations about the technical, economic and social implications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Every week, we interview business leaders, engineers academics and entrepreneurs, and bring you a diverse spectrum of opinions and points of view. Epicenter is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Brian Fabian Crain, Friederike Ernst, Meher Roy and Felix Lutsch. Since 2014, our episodes have been downloaded over 8 million times.
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episode 545: 'Is Tether's USDT Safe?' - Paolo Ardoino
Long regarded as an impending black swan, Tether has successfully weathered out the contagion and bank runs caused by Luna’s collapse in the depths of the 2022-2023 bearmarket. Since then, a large portion of Tether’s reserves has been shifted to treasury bills, which are the closest dollar proxy, positioning Tether among the top 20 holders of T-bills, worldwide. However, navigating the Tether FUD was not the first rodeo for Paolo Ardoino, as he has also previously led Bitfinex, which successfully recovered after a $72M hack, back in 2016. The worldwide adoption of USDT, especially in emerging markets and developing economies, serves as a testament to Tether’s commitment to create a product with tangible real-life applications.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Paolo’s background
- How Bitfinex succeeded
- DEX vs. CEX UX
- Entrepreneurship and company culture
- Founding Tether and its use cases
- Expanding Tether’s cross-chain support
- Tether’s reserves and long-term vision
- Stablecoin wars: BUSD & USDC
- Decentralized stablecoins and bank runs
- The potential of diversifying physical backing
- Holepunch & Keet - the P2P renaissance
- Incentivising P2P interactions
Episode links:
- Paolo Ardoino on Twitter
- Tether on Twitter
- Bitfinex on Twitter
- Holepunch on Twitter
- Keet on Twitter
Sponsors:
- Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
- Chorus1: Chorus1 is one of the largest node operators worldwide, supporting more than 100,000 delegators, across 45 networks. The recently launched OPUS allows staking up to 8,000 ETH in a single transaction. Enjoy the highest yields and institutional grade security at - chorus.one
This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst.