When like 70-80% of Tether's holdings are in U.S. treasuries, I'd say it's very misleading to claim no association to any govt. Due to this dependence - along with the mentioned ability to freeze and surveil activity - the practical difference between USDT and a CBDC lies only in what the U.S. government has yet to decide to exercise. (the same would go for any BDC that's also beholding to the demands of a govt).

I agree, however, that it's not good to inaccurately label anything - even if it's only inaccurate on a technicality... Someone needs to coin another term for government-cucked digital currency to cover them all.