> I thought crypto was all about cutting out the middlemen?
No, there are hundreds of great use cases for cryptocurrency. The idea that every currency should do everything is ridiculous. Tether was specifically designed to be a tool for "middlemen" to avoid the overhead of dealing with the archaic US financial infrastructure.
If you want to be able to redeem a stablecoin directly to USD in a bank account at a moment's notice, use USDC and a Coinbase account or something. Those extra benefits come with extra risks, where certain organizations can seize your USDC at a moment's notice. If you need to move dollars between crypto exchanges, use Tether. US bank accounts and crypto exchanges are like cesium and water. They do not mix, and tend to explode violently.
The reason that multiple things exist is that there are multiple use cases, even for things that seem to an outsider like they are very similar. Tether, USDC, and DAI all have very different use cases, even though they all represent a dollar. This is fine. This is the way things are supposed to work.
No, there are hundreds of great use cases for cryptocurrency. The idea that every currency should do everything is ridiculous. Tether was specifically designed to be a tool for "middlemen" to avoid the overhead of dealing with the archaic US financial infrastructure.
If you want to be able to redeem a stablecoin directly to USD in a bank account at a moment's notice, use USDC and a Coinbase account or something. Those extra benefits come with extra risks, where certain organizations can seize your USDC at a moment's notice. If you need to move dollars between crypto exchanges, use Tether. US bank accounts and crypto exchanges are like cesium and water. They do not mix, and tend to explode violently.
The reason that multiple things exist is that there are multiple use cases, even for things that seem to an outsider like they are very similar. Tether, USDC, and DAI all have very different use cases, even though they all represent a dollar. This is fine. This is the way things are supposed to work.