What happened to the claim that Tether is artificially propping up Bitcoin? How risky is the whole system?

Especially during the bull runs in 2017 and 2020, everybody was talking about it. Somehow, it got really quiet around that topic even though Tether admitted in 2021 that they're not fully covered by cash.

The basic claim: Tether prints unbacked or loosely backed USDT, pumps it into exchanges, and that liquidity artificially inflates Bitcoin’s price.

Some studies (e.g., Griffin & Shams, 2018) claim there’s a pattern where BTC rallies follow large Tether issuances. Tether says they’re now backed by T-bills and other assets, but they’ve never done a full, independent audit. And let’s not forget the $41M CFTC fine for misleading the market about reserves.

– Is Tether still a systemic risk, especially for Bitcoin?

– Could a collapse tank Bitcoin and altcoins, or is the market more resilient now?

– Are we just kicking the can down the road with a massive stablecoin bubble?

Maybe there was some news in that debate and I just missed it.