Chris Grant
@chriskgrant.bsky.social
Climate finance & policy at Climate Policy Initiative. Former SF Fed and U.S. Treasury. Personal account, all views my own.
Yeah for sure. Tether is like the crypto community took their fantasy of fiat money being “backed by nothing” and central banks being fraudulent and made it real—but this time they like it.
November 26, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Yeah for sure. Tether is like the crypto community took their fantasy of fiat money being “backed by nothing” and central banks being fraudulent and made it real—but this time they like it.
On #1… riskier than perceived by whom? It has always been astounding to me that anyone trusts this outfit with their money. bsky.app/profile/chri...
The “success” of Tether feels like a practical joke on anyone who has worked in banking supervision—or who has thought about the concept of *risk*.
November 26, 2025 at 6:17 PM
On #1… riskier than perceived by whom? It has always been astounding to me that anyone trusts this outfit with their money. bsky.app/profile/chri...
“Full resilience” indeed. I wonder what the secret sauce could be?
November 26, 2025 at 5:58 PM
“Full resilience” indeed. I wonder what the secret sauce could be?
And surely no big deal that the Commerce sec (and once/future Treasury candidate?) has close ties to this super shady and massive buyer of US debt.
November 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
And surely no big deal that the Commerce sec (and once/future Treasury candidate?) has close ties to this super shady and massive buyer of US debt.
What could go wrong?
November 26, 2025 at 5:49 PM
What could go wrong?
Share button seems not to have worked, but this article is what prompted the thought: on.ft.com/44xHshw S&P downgrades Tether’s assets to lowest level
S&P downgrades Tether’s assets to lowest level
Rating agency cites rising exposure to high-risk assets and lack of disclosures
on.ft.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Share button seems not to have worked, but this article is what prompted the thought: on.ft.com/44xHshw S&P downgrades Tether’s assets to lowest level
I think it would have to remain in the banking system, as FX dealers hold inventory in the form of deposits at commercial banks. So a NY-based dealer could facilitate the trade by transferring USD deposits to the Swiss investor and accepting CHF deposits at a Swiss bank in exchange.
November 14, 2025 at 10:06 PM
I think it would have to remain in the banking system, as FX dealers hold inventory in the form of deposits at commercial banks. So a NY-based dealer could facilitate the trade by transferring USD deposits to the Swiss investor and accepting CHF deposits at a Swiss bank in exchange.
Acknowledging that this was certainly a 🤯 moment for me when I first learned it, it seems like a bad thing that it’s still so unintuitive to people. It is, imo, the very essence of banking. Kind of like how the basics of quantum mechanics are still unintuitive (certainly to me) 100 years on.
September 25, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Acknowledging that this was certainly a 🤯 moment for me when I first learned it, it seems like a bad thing that it’s still so unintuitive to people. It is, imo, the very essence of banking. Kind of like how the basics of quantum mechanics are still unintuitive (certainly to me) 100 years on.
My reactions are more along the lines of thank god they can do this and how have so many people seemingly convinced themselves that completely inelastic stablecoins can substitute for banks??
September 25, 2025 at 7:44 PM
My reactions are more along the lines of thank god they can do this and how have so many people seemingly convinced themselves that completely inelastic stablecoins can substitute for banks??
Fair enough, and I’m not an expert, but I think that as the victor we could’ve taken first step and articulated vision, and we didn’t. Wasn’t it Rumsfeld who nixed real econ aid to Russia? And talking to people who were in State Dept at the time suggests that Russia in NATO was never on the table.
July 19, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Fair enough, and I’m not an expert, but I think that as the victor we could’ve taken first step and articulated vision, and we didn’t. Wasn’t it Rumsfeld who nixed real econ aid to Russia? And talking to people who were in State Dept at the time suggests that Russia in NATO was never on the table.
Yeah that stuff was silly, but it made me think that the big opportunity after fall of USSR was for US to articulate a long-term vision of gradual NATO expansion east with the eventual goal of Russia joining. That missed opportunity was the nugget of truth in the “NATO is to blame” nonsense.
July 19, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Yeah that stuff was silly, but it made me think that the big opportunity after fall of USSR was for US to articulate a long-term vision of gradual NATO expansion east with the eventual goal of Russia joining. That missed opportunity was the nugget of truth in the “NATO is to blame” nonsense.
Sure, but why is licorice candy disgusting but pastis is delicious? That question seems like it could be the basis for a rich field of study.
July 3, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Sure, but why is licorice candy disgusting but pastis is delicious? That question seems like it could be the basis for a rich field of study.
His peanut butter oreos were like $10 per package, at least at the SF organic bodega where I would see them, but still worth it.
June 27, 2025 at 10:25 PM
His peanut butter oreos were like $10 per package, at least at the SF organic bodega where I would see them, but still worth it.
Hard disagree. Moving from DC to coastal California has been glorious. Only two weather-related things I miss are drinking ice coffee on summer mornings and eating/drinking/hanging out outside on summer nights… and I can deal with that.
June 20, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Hard disagree. Moving from DC to coastal California has been glorious. Only two weather-related things I miss are drinking ice coffee on summer mornings and eating/drinking/hanging out outside on summer nights… and I can deal with that.
Aren’t RRP balances functionally equivalent to reserves? To me, it would make no sense for the Fed to set IOR lower than the RRP rate; but if it did, and banks moved reserves to RRP, they’d still just be exchanging one Fed liability for another.
June 12, 2025 at 5:28 AM
Aren’t RRP balances functionally equivalent to reserves? To me, it would make no sense for the Fed to set IOR lower than the RRP rate; but if it did, and banks moved reserves to RRP, they’d still just be exchanging one Fed liability for another.
Even with new Ts being issued I think it would just shuffle reserves among banks—unless Treasury actually builds up its TGA balance (i.e. not spend the cash it gets from issuance). Basically the aggregate volume of reserves is fully determined by the Fed—banks can’t change it afaik.
June 12, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Even with new Ts being issued I think it would just shuffle reserves among banks—unless Treasury actually builds up its TGA balance (i.e. not spend the cash it gets from issuance). Basically the aggregate volume of reserves is fully determined by the Fed—banks can’t change it afaik.
Completely agree. This is an excellent opportunity to show some fucking backbone and stand up for immigrants and immigration. Naturally I expect Democrats to fumble it.
April 18, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Completely agree. This is an excellent opportunity to show some fucking backbone and stand up for immigrants and immigration. Naturally I expect Democrats to fumble it.
I saw a chart in FT article a few months ago showing polls of US opinion on immigration. Trend was towards favorable for decades… right until Trump announced candidacy in 2015 and then swung negative. Crystal clear that this is an elite-led shift, so can be countered with principled pro stance.
April 15, 2025 at 2:09 AM
I saw a chart in FT article a few months ago showing polls of US opinion on immigration. Trend was towards favorable for decades… right until Trump announced candidacy in 2015 and then swung negative. Crystal clear that this is an elite-led shift, so can be countered with principled pro stance.
Great article. Climate resilience was a big part of the reason I moved from the Bay Area to Humboldt, CA… although I’m not an expert and there are certainly risks here too.
April 3, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Great article. Climate resilience was a big part of the reason I moved from the Bay Area to Humboldt, CA… although I’m not an expert and there are certainly risks here too.
Not serious, but a comment I saw on the FT’s write up points out that the formula makes a modicum of sense mathematically, if you assume x-m is small and m is the only variable in the whole economy that responds to delta tau. Oh also no retaliation. And the bilateral frame is bullshit. So no.
April 3, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Not serious, but a comment I saw on the FT’s write up points out that the formula makes a modicum of sense mathematically, if you assume x-m is small and m is the only variable in the whole economy that responds to delta tau. Oh also no retaliation. And the bilateral frame is bullshit. So no.
Yes! This has strong “all your base are belong to us” energy. I’m definitely going to find uses for it. 😂
March 30, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Yes! This has strong “all your base are belong to us” energy. I’m definitely going to find uses for it. 😂