USDT (Tether)
Stablecoin in Money & business
More people criticize it than recommend it. Dollar-pegged stablecoin people use to hold and move money where local currencies are unstable. Critics say the issuer can freeze or block funds, and it is not decentralized.
6 people recommended USDT (Tether) in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 18 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
These are opinions from Hacker News comments, not financial advice.
Summary written by Claude from the comments below.
25 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- mixed feelings
- 1
- warn against or regret it
- 18
The record
Recommended in 3 of 12 months
In 4 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 4 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- The biggest thread supplies 33% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
- A money productHealth and money products are never badged, not met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 27 of the 27 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Issuer can freeze or block funds
“USDT/USDC are useful for the exchange to fiat, but have freeze function in their contract, thus posing a risk for big longterm savings”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Neovim have a ~$800k Bitcoin donation sitting untouched since 2023” “It's the same as a bank in that one party holds your money and can decide to stop you from spending it.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Binance-hacker-1029 – $5.6B stolen from Binance” “same problem if the US gov tell tether to whip their address it is game over.”
Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “Iran demands Bitcoin fees for ships passing Hormuz during ceasefire” - Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Binance-hacker-1029 – $5.6B stolen from Binance”
- Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Binance-hacker-1029 – $5.6B stolen from Binance”
- Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Binance-hacker-1029 – $5.6B stolen from Binance”
- Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “Crypto in 2026: Oh, This Is the Bad Place”
Not decentralized, tied to one company
“the reality that USDT and similar tokens end up tethered to a single dominant exchange, heavily coupled to nation states”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “Crypto in 2026: Oh, This Is the Bad Place” “created by a super shady company and is not at all decentralized or censorship-free”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Binance-hacker-1029 – $5.6B stolen from Binance” “There is nothing permissionless or decentralized about them.”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “Crypto in 2026: Oh, This Is the Bad Place” Shady issuer and dodgy origins
“The whole Axis of Losers trade is propped up by mafia's USDT”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “I wasted years of my life in crypto” “I don't trust a El Salvador baed company and thus not USDT”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun” “It's creation was dodgy to say the least.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Binance-hacker-1029 – $5.6B stolen from Binance” Unaudited and opaque
“I would not consider USDT to be an example for transparency or free flow of information.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Binance-hacker-1029 – $5.6B stolen from Binance” “USDT still hasn't published their audit despite KPMG signing off on it”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Open-source Stripe Connect alternative”
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Stable value where local currency is unstable
“people in my country Venezuela, use usdt as a way for paying for things and saving money as the currency it's inestable”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “I wasted years of my life in crypto” “The only real use case that makes sense to me is giving people in developing countries access to a stable currency”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “Crypto in 2026: Oh, This Is the Bad Place” “USDC and USDT do seem to actually be stable”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “Crypto in 2026: Oh, This Is the Bad Place” Used for payments and savings
“I still use USDT/USDC transfers when it’s cheaper.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “The $6.3B Binance hack was pulled off in just 20 minutes”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USDC (USD Coin) | 15 | 5 | 6 | 71% | 6 | — | — |
| USDT (Tether)This page | 6 | 1 | 18 | 25% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 27 opinions about it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I still use USDT/USDC transfers when it’s cheaper.”
“It is the worst parts of cash and the worst parts of crypto put together into one unholy pile of suck.”
“I would not consider USDT to be an example for transparency or free flow of information.”
“It's creation was dodgy to say the least.”
“It's the same as a bank in that one party holds your money and can decide to stop you from spending it.”
“created by a super shady company and is not at all decentralized or censorship-free”
“You're far less likely to get banned from USDT than just about any non-cryptocurrency financial institution.”
“bannable by a central institution with lower legal oversight than the Fed”
“A shame that they can and do so here but happily facilitate transfers”
“there are quite good reasons to have a centralised currency after all”
“so much for freezing those”
“admins can prevent any address holding USDT from spending”
“USDT/USDC are useful for the exchange to fiat, but have freeze function in their contract, thus posing a risk for big longterm savings”
“USDT still hasn't published their audit despite KPMG signing off on it”
“unaudited, risky and pointless coins”
“holding USDC or USDT is almost like having a bank account with a bank who, for the most part, allows you to maintain your privacy”
“both can be frozen by their respective issuer”
“There is nothing permissionless or decentralized about them.”
“USDC and USDT do seem to actually be stable”
“The only real use case that makes sense to me is giving people in developing countries access to a stable currency”
“the reality that USDT and similar tokens end up tethered to a single dominant exchange, heavily coupled to nation states”
“same problem if the US gov tell tether to whip their address it is game over.”
“All the other ones: USDC, USDT, EURC and the ruble one can be whipped out easily.”
“I don't trust a El Salvador baed company and thus not USDT”
“run by criminals for criminals”
“people in my country Venezuela, use usdt as a way for paying for things and saving money as the currency it's inestable”
“The whole Axis of Losers trade is propped up by mafia's USDT”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.