Tether, the issuer of the leading stablecoin USDT, made headlines with a significant $1 billion Bitcoin acquisition—approximately 8,800 BTC—during the third quarter of this year.
However, this investment has drawn sharp caution from industry critics. Jacob King, CEO of SwanDesk, argues that Tether’s move may contribute to the “largest bubble in history.”
King’s Skepticism: $1,000 True Value
King claims that 80-90% of Bitcoin’s total buy volume is artificially inflated. His core argument is that Tether creates money “out of thin air” and injects it into Bitcoin, artificially escalating the speculative environment. Consequently, he believes Bitcoin’s real value might be “far below $1,000.”
When challenged on why major institutional players, like ETFs and Fortune 500 companies, continue to invest, King dismissed the notion of significant institutional investment as largely “a myth,” asserting that most ETF inflows are driven by retail investors. He also criticized Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), the largest corporate holder of BTC, labeling it a “leveraged Bitcoin casino” and drawing parallels to the dot-com bubble.
Optimistic Counter-Narrative
In contrast, other experts like Quinten Francois view Tether’s actions optimistically, linking them to US regulatory efforts. Francois highlights the proposed GENIUS Act, which aims to mandate stablecoin issuers to be licensed, transparent, and fully backed by US Treasuries.
He suggests this framework could lead to stablecoins effectively channeling trillions in offshore Eurodollars into US bonds. In this view, private stablecoin issuers could indirectly continue a form of quantitative easing, potentially providing a bullish fundamental support for the crypto market rather than a speculative bubble.
October 2025, Cryptoniteuae
