The CMC volume numbers show around 3% of all USDT trades in USD/USDT markets today, so that would be $0.03 in the analogy above. Do people understand they're being played? There's plenty of ignorance to go around. (cough bitconnect cough)But I disagree that there's something nefarious going on : they're saying in no uncertain terms that they're playing the ponies with your money.
They don't. They are babes in the woods. Of the six or so people I've recently talked to with interest or holdings in crypto, zero of them had heard of Mt. Gox. I'm pro regulation. I think the exchanges should fall under the same regulations and laws as securities exchanges. And the sooner that happens the fewer naifs will be skinned by the wolves. Americans in particular are vulnerable; we're used to consumer laws that give us back our money 99% of the time. And in the US, even "accredited investors" - that class of entrepreneur classified as educated and wealthy enough to take real risks - has orders of magnitude more protection than the idiots buying Litecoin with PayPal.