> I think we would be better off if a different stablecoin with a more solid grounding was the most popular one.
I think you're missing the point of the article - the reason Tether is the most popular and cheapest is because it is junk behind the scenes.
You could start a competing one, which follows KYC laws like a real bank, but you'd have to charge higher fees (KYC is expensive) and turn away many customers (KYC is effective). But few users would use it; they would keep using the cheaper, more popular option, and they would justify it exactly the same way you did:
> But for now, since Tether is the most popular stablecoin and popularity itself provides value...
I think you're missing the point of the article - the reason Tether is the most popular and cheapest is because it is junk behind the scenes.
You could start a competing one, which follows KYC laws like a real bank, but you'd have to charge higher fees (KYC is expensive) and turn away many customers (KYC is effective). But few users would use it; they would keep using the cheaper, more popular option, and they would justify it exactly the same way you did:
> But for now, since Tether is the most popular stablecoin and popularity itself provides value...