The strangest part of the Tether story is how much of it was obvious or even out in the open. Cryptocurrency proponents were happy to look the other way as long as prices were only going up. I suspect cryptocurrency proponents and Bitfinex are working hard to spin this as a win for Tether right.
I have honestly been surprised how long this obvious tether saga has gone on.
I guess we could argue, "It's good news for our slightly more subtle fraud if the blatant, obvious fraud gets stamped out."
Let's be clear, here: There's a substantial difference between Bitfinex engaging in outright financial fraud vs a bunch of people buying into the value of a virtual currency for reasons no one can understand.
BTC is not a ponzi. It's just a long-running speculative bubble. A collective delusion. You can disagree with that, sure, but it's certainly no more a fraud than Beanie Babies or tulip bulbs.
BTC didn't get to the price it is today on the backs of a few cypherpunks experimenting with decentralized digital currency technology.
You've basically described commerce.
Pick a random asset class--stocks, real estate, commodities, etc--and ask yourself: are there people who are hyping that asset who have a vested financial interest in it?
The answer is almost certainly "yes" in every case.
Did their bubbles also last 12 years, went through multiple bear/bull markets?