[TI Interview] Tether Operations Limited CTO Paolo Ardoino：Recent Speculation around USDT Could be Coming From Nocoiners that Don’t Believe in Bitcoin

TokenInsight Interviewed with Mr. Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether and Bitfinex. Mr. Ardoino gave answers on series doubts and speculations around USDT, and talked about USDT reserve, regulation, and stablecoin competitions. Questions related to Bitfinex were also answered. Mr. Ardoino's opinions include the following:

• Every Tether token (USDt) is 100% backed by reserves;

• Some of the recent speculation around USDT could be coming from nocoiners that don’t believe in bitcoin and by extension in USDT;

• USDt is lubricating many of the powerful protocols to which Ethereum has given birth, such as those in the DeFi field;

• Algorithmic stablecoins have to be able to scale to the same sort of multi-billion-dollar size as today’s stablecoins, so that it is able to mass-liquidate without causing significant disruption to the broader market;

• USDt’s existence on a rich diversity of different blockchains is its main strength;

• Bitfinex takes a community-first approach to its development plans;

• Ardoino sees a bright future ahead for bitcoin holders;

• Centralized exchanges like Bitfinex will continue to provide the regulated environments required for digital tokens to evolve into the mainstream.

TETHER

Is USDT really fully reserved or not? And what are the assets that back, USDT?

Every Tether token (USDT) is 100% backed by our reserves. Those reserves include traditional currency and cash equivalents and may include other assets and receivables from loans made by Tether to third parties. Every USDt is pegged one to one to the US Dollar. USDT is always valued by Tether Operations Limited at 1 USDt to 1 USD.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino

How do you interpret the DOUBT that "USDT is not regulated, USDT is just printing money out of nothing”?

Some of the recent speculation around USDT could be coming from nocoiners that don’t believe in bitcoin and by extension in USDT.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino

What is your opinion towards the competition among different stablecoins, as more and more of them are coming, especially from the DeFi field?

As the most stable, liquid and trusted stablecoin, USDT is powering innovation in crypto at the moment. USDT is lubricating many of the powerful protocols to which Ethereum has given birth, such as those in the DeFi field.

While USDT is breaking all growth records, we love that stablecoin offerings are expanding the overall monetary base. We applaud consumer choices in free markets. Aggregate efforts from multiple companies are more likely to succeed than one company or business bringing this whole concept forward alone.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino

What do you think about decentralized stablecoins? How about algorithm-based stablecoins - just bubbles? Scam? Will they succeed?

Algorithmic stablecoins have to be able to scale to the same sort of multi-billion-dollar size as today’s stablecoins, so that it is able to mass-liquidate without causing significant disruption to the broader market. As things currently stand, there are technological hurdles that need to be overcome, for algorithmic stablecoins to serve as stable, trusted and liquid assets.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino

How do you view the allegation towards Ripple from SEC? Do you think SEC's or US government's targeting list will expand and affect more digital assets, including USDT?

I’d rather not comment on Ripple’s case with SEC. USDt is registered and regulated under FinCEN, as are all of our centralised competitors. Strict Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations are applied to all Tether direct users, as the other main issuers are doing.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino

How do you think the landscape of stablecoins will change in 2021? What do you view as USDT's main strength for staying in the top under the circumstances of the growth of USDC and decentralized stablecoins?

We may see stablecoins penetrate non-crypto markets more deeply, helping to increase mass adoption. As digitized currencies become a new norm, the differences between using stablecoins to transact versus fiat will narrow.

I believe USDt’s existence on a rich diversity of different blockchains is its main strength for remaining the most stable, liquid and innovative stablecoin. These different blockchains include Algorand, Bitcoin Cash’s Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP), Ethereum, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni and Tron. This allows USDt to serve several different communities within the crypto ecosystem.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino

BITFINEX

What do you think about the competition among large exchanges? What's Bitfinex's plan to expand market share in 2021?

Competition among exchanges has intensified, with a greater focus on day-to-day business rather than the innovation that characterised the early years of our industry. I believe that exchanges should focus on supporting and integrating promising projects in the crypto ecosystem. Exchanges should focus on being gateways between new users and crypto by providing valuable information and education.

As a developer-driven exchange, we take a community-first approach to our development plans. We are always looking to give our customers the tools they need to trade and succeed. This is evidenced in our launch of Bitfinex Terminal, a real-time market data feed that caters to the growing number of algorithmic traders on our platform, as well as our commitment to the Lightning Network and its supported projects such as the RGB Protocol and OmniBolt.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino

What's your opinion on DEX, as they are gaining more and more trading volume and have become comparable to centralized exchanges in terms of the scale of trading volume?

I believe that decentralised exchanges (DEXes) are a key component for the future of crypto. I believe the ideal DEX has to be peer-to-peer (P2P), with a network structure similar to the Lightning Network, which would allow central matching and P2P settlement and thousands of micro-exchanges. We are working to provide a standardised interface to centralised matching for non-custodial exchanges.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino

A question for the market: Performance of mainstream cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH) in 2021 ?

We see a bright future ahead for bitcoin holders.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino

What do you think about the regulations on exchanges in the future?

We welcome appropriate oversight and engagement with regulators and law enforcement. BFXNA Inc. is registered as a money services business with FinCEN at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and has attendant obligations and requirements associated with the Bank Secrecy Act. Bitfinex does not do any business in the U.S. and no U.S. person may use any of our services.

Furthermore, Bitfinex has a robust and best-in-class anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, and sanctions programme. This addresses both our legal obligations and our desire to be a good corporate citizen. Our security practices discourage illegal transactions, disincentivize contraband movements, and improve wallet security on our platform.

I believe that centralized exchanges like ours will continue to provide the regulated environments required for digital tokens to evolve into the mainstream.

Mr. Paolo Ardoino