>> Tether isn't a cryptocurrency > > Then > >> a pile of fiat currency represented by tokens on different cryptocurrencies. > > If one is true then the other would have to be true yet you have represented the arguments as the inverse of eachother. When I started researching crypto I was confused too. The terminology is somewhat stupid and adds to the confusion. Strictly speaking, a cryptocurrency is just the blockchain + group of computers running a program that maintain that block chain. There are DOZENS of block chains around such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. USDT is not a blockchain. Most of the block chains provide a way for users to submit transactions that are entire _scripts_, not just a one-shot description of value moving from one wallet to another. On those capable blockchains a standard script emerged that people reviewed, and now trust and use everywhere, and it defines a "token" as easily as it defines a variable that is set to some value (wallet 'x' has value 'y'). There are THOUSANDS of tokens and USDT is one of them. Creating USDT out of thin air, "minting", just requires someone at Tether to submit a transaction containing a script that calls a function, one that increments the value of a variable. The machines running the blockchain actually execute the function and append the transaction to the blockchain. Destroying USDT back to ashes, "burning", follows the same approach but calling a different function, one that decrements the value. Technically Tether could mint/burn whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted, but this would erode everyone's trust in the token's value. They invite auditors over to their office often, to see that the number of tokens minted equal the number of dollars (cash or invested in TBills) that they possess. Other token authors have their own policy for minting/burning their tokens. The underlying blockchain (such as Ethereum) still defines its own currency value (ETH) in each wallet, it just has nothing to do with "tokens". Moving this value from wallet to wallet just requires the wallet owner to submit a transaction describing the movement of that value to another wallet. Minting or burning this value is very different from minting/burning tokens, as it's done by and for the machines that maintain the blockchain (the miners), according to a well known schedule.