I know a lot of you guys think this tether thing is just fud, but if it's true it essentially means that Tether is forging bank notes regardless of what their terms of service say.
And who exactly is buying USDT from tether? Why would any VC want to purchase usdt in volume in order to purchase other crypto's when they can just buy btc with fiat directly and not have the associated risks implied in the tether terms of service?
It might not effect things right away because the mania is so strong right now and any dip will be bought by fomo or by bitfinex QE, but if this is legit it could all unravel very quickly.
My understanding is that the money they 'pumped' according to accusations are somewhere on the line of < $700Mn. It's a lot of money for me, but in terms of crypto market we are talking a drop of less than 0.5%.
Of course, you should include leverage and such, but overall not worried of an MtGox 2.0. But it is good they keep questioning tether, as many people (including investors) will lose money if true
Re. tether over usd, it is more practical to transport and helps with taxes I think