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Crypto Experts’ Take On Facebook’s Cryptocurrency “Libra”: It’s Three Magical Words
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Pocket- Facebook has officially launched its cryptocurrency Libra.
In early 2008, the Facebook-Cambridge Analytics data scandal revealed that the latter harvested the personal data of millions of people’s Facebook profile without their consent and used it for political advertising purposes.
During its first quarterly release this year, Facebook said it is expected to pay a fine of up to $5 billion to the US Federal trade commission for violating the terms of a 2011 agreement to better protect users’ privacy.
In the aftermath of this debacle, Facebook founder CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised its audience that they will make a shift to users’ privacy and went on to the blockchain and cryptocurrency’s way.
Crypto is saving Facebook #narrative
— moon (@MoonOverlord) June 18, 2019
“A Monopoly Scam”
Announcing a new blockchain and the token of the same name that will run on it, one interesting fact of this cryptocurrency is you don’t have to have a Facebook account to use Libra.
Alphaville provides a short and tart explanation of what actually is Libra,
“It's a glorified exchange traded fund which uses blockchain buzzwords to neutralise the regulatory impact of coming to market without a licence as well as to veil the disproportionate influence of Facebook in what it hopes will eventually become a global digital reserve system.”
On Tuesday, the social media giant released the whitepaper, that can be found here with a far-reaching scope. As found out a few days ago, it is backed by a good list of heavyweight players that are part of an independent consortium called Libra Association. This is a group of 28 founding members that include Mastercard, Visa, Coinbase, PayPal, Uber, Visa, Lyft, and others.
Safe to say Facebook's Libra is massive tech companies giving the finger to absolutely everyone else. https://t.co/uPWqb2Ikls
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) June 18, 2019
Bitcoin promoter Andreas M. Antonopoulos in a video today explained how Facebook or any company like it can never have a cryptocurrency as it “doesn’t have any of the fundamental characteristics of cryptocurrency.”
Antonopoulos explains how it “doesn’t stand on the five pillars of an open blockchain.”
While Facebook's Libra doesn't compete against any open, public, permissionless, borderless, neutral, censorship-resistant blockchains, it *will* compete against both retail banks and central banks. This is going to be fun to watch.
— Andreas ☮ 🌈 ⚛ ⚖ 🌐 📡 📖 📹 🔑 🛩 (@aantonop) June 18, 2019
Even Nouriel Roubini called it “a monopoly scam” as he illustrates how it will start as a “private, permissioned, not-trustless, centralized oligopolistic members-only club. So much for calling it “blockchain”. Like all “enterprise DLT “it is blockchain in name only and a monopoly to extract massive seigniorage from billions of users. A monopoly scam.”
At a time when Big Tech is coming under sharp legislative scrutiny coz of serious anti-trust concerns and all govs, even the US, want to crack down on these monopolies Facebook wants to become the monopolistic Global Fed without even a bank license. What a ridiculous chutzpah!
— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) June 17, 2019
Calibra’s Special Touch
With a user base of 2 billion, Libra is coming with a new Facebook subsidiary Calibra that will develop financial services and products around the Libra network that will be fully governed by the Libra Association.
Intends to start with a digital wallet for the Libra coin, Calibra will allow users to transfer funds to each other and further store their tokens locally.
The most important part of the Facebook announcement is that every user of a Facebook property will get a digital wallet eventually.
Almost 1/3 of the world will be onboarded to cryptocurrencies.
This is incredibly bullish for Bitcoin.
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) June 18, 2019
Customers will be able to access the wallet functionally through Facebook’s Messenger, Whatsapp Service or new standalone app on Android and iOS.
HOT TAKE: Calibra is more important than Libra 🔥
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) June 18, 2019
Calibra intends to follow anti-money laundering and know-your-customer regulations in those jurisdictions it conducts its business and wouldn’t run where cryptos are banned outright.
Facebook Libra coin don't need KYC. They have so much more data on the 2 billion people. Not just name, id, address, phone number. They know your family, friends, real-time/historic location, what you like… They know you more than yourself. And now your wallet too. Best AML!
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) June 18, 2019
Registered as a money service business with the US Department of Treasury, Calibra is working to acquire money transmitter licenses in the US states that basically treat cryptos as the equivalent of money.
Other wallet providers will be able to build products on the Libra Protocol when the network launched at it scheduled early 2020. However, Jameson Lopp, the CTO at Casa is “skeptical” about developers be able to run any “technically valid app they can dream of on this platform.”
Bullish For Bitcoin
Numerous speculations followed Libra’s official release however, industry experts called it out a positive development that is and will drive Bitcoin and crypto adoption higher.
Facebook's Libra Coin will educate hundreds of millions of people on what a digital/crypto currency is.
Crap coin or competitor, doesn't matter.
Exposure, legitimacy, education and on-boarding on a massive scale. #bitcoin
— Bob Loukas (@BobLoukas) June 17, 2019
According to Saifedean Ammous, a Bitcoin economist,
“Libra is the only digital currency other than bitcoin that matters, and it could succeed massively.” However, he clarifies in no uncertain terms that “it does not compete with bitcoin,” rather “reinforces bitcoin's value proposition, and will likely need to rely on bitcoin if it succeeds.”
But to be clear, Facebook is building a centralized payment processor on the US dollar and calling it a blockchain. Like all centralized shitcoins, they've set up a 'Foundation' to pretend the thing is independent. They're even pretending its development will be open source.
— Saifedean Ammous (@saifedean) June 18, 2019
“In the long-run, it will only survive by being subservient to bitcoin and pegged to it. The only other fate possible is the life & inevitable death of yet another irrelevant stupid shitcoin,” Ammous said.
Just like Ammous, Max Keiser says Libra's competition will be against rather fiat.
Libra doesn’t compete with #Bitcoin. It competes with other fiat.
It’s private currency vs. state currency. (The first time this has been possible globally via blockchain’ish tech).
Let $FB take out banks/central banks leaving BTC free to grab Gold’s market as SOV.
— Max Keiser, tweet poet. (@maxkeiser) June 18, 2019
To put it succinctly, this is “Bullish for Bitcoin.”
Overall, crypto industry experts are as much confident about Libra being bullish for Bitcoin as they were before these details were unveiled.
“Facebook and LIBRA. I feel a huge FOMO and bull run for crypto is on its way,” comments Tron founder and CEO of BitTorrent, Justin Sun.
After reading some more stuff about Libra I am even more bullish on Bitcoin.
— WhalePanda (@WhalePanda) June 18, 2019
And of course, Bitcoin Billionaire and Gemini co-founder, Cameron Winklevoss’ prediction,
“Prediction: ever FAANG company will have its own coin within 24 months,” Tweeted Winklevoss.
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