It has been a while since Facebook announced its cryptocurrency Libra and wallet – Calibra. I’m not a crypto expert, so I won’t explain the differences between real cryptocurrency and stablecoin. I’ve only read that it would be backed by “real” global currencies and short-term government securities, thus almost removing the volatility of other crypto currencies.
With the help of a lot of companies, excluding the biggest financial ones (there are no banks in the list of partners), Facebook will become the new Federal Reserve. It will “print” and “destroy” money as it wishes.
Users will be sold on the idea of easy transfers, as almost anyone has an account with Facebook. You won’t need to think about the currency exchange, you will just use Libra instead of dollars and euro.
I’m not sure what is Facebook thinking. How anyone in the company thinks it’s a good idea. With almost every country looking into Facebook, its role in the elections and the dissemination of fake news. On the day one, a lot of politicians came out saying they want to look into this before Facebook launches it.
Also, why announce it a year in advance? Right now, I’m not sure this will ever see the light of day in its current form. This is either something Facebook will close, just to show that it is over regulated and use it in the future as an example, that it can’t do anything without the government interference. Or governments will take hold of it. Regulate it. And it won’t have an effect, that Facebook hopes to achieve.