Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#511

Post by Clamhead » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:00 PM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #502

Yizahi wrote: post #209

Step 1 - say that your "coin" is not centralized Step 2 - proceed to contradict yourself in the next sentence How the hell is a an obviously centralized system with 3 dozens of privileged entities is not centralized... Also it is not only oligarchy, but completely unaccountable shady oligarchy. Why people continue to "want" it is beyond understanding.

People still tell me with a straight face that the Cloud is decentralized too. I'm mature enough not to smack them, but not mature enough that I don't fantasize about it.

I really want to ask them how they think 'The Cloud' works to figure out how on earth they think it's decentralized in any way, shape, or form.

Unless they think having Cloud services being offered by a couple of giant companies rather than one is considered "decentralized".

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#512

Post by bilbo0s » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:02 PM UTC

bufferoverflow wrote: post #490

What I really don't get is the regulatory aspect. They are creating a financial derivative asset/instrument. To be moved across the borders. In what freaking universe will the regulators not be all over it with endless KYC/ML rules?

You assume government regulators and policy makers were not in on it from the start.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#513

Post by coolspot » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:05 PM UTC

DiseasedBadger wrote: post #498

I'm not surprised to see MasterCard diving this dumpster fire, but, Visa? Visa: what are you doing? Save yourself, Visa! Don't do this!

It's just a hedge, bro! Visa is not obligated to integrate Libra anywhere. They just put a foot in the opening just in case it will take off. If it doesn't they lose nothing ($10M), if it takes off they are having saying in where it goes.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#514

Post by 0xDEFC0DE » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:07 PM UTC

Clamhead wrote: post #511

hinkley wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People still tell me with a straight face that the Cloud is decentralized too. I'm mature enough not to smack them, but not mature enough that I don't fantasize about it.

I really want to ask them how they think 'The Cloud' works to figure out how on earth they think it's decentralized in any way, shape, or form. Unless they think having Cloud services being offered by a couple of giant companies rather than one is considered "decentralized".

They're probably conflating geographical decentralization with your idea.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#515

Post by JaRail » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:07 PM UTC

dmix wrote: post #481

moosey wrote: post #233

If this succeeds, it will be a data collection tool the likes of which the world has never seen, which is why so many companies are willing to put their name on it. The data, along with ML/AI, and our contemporary understanding of the human mind, means that this is a major step towards control that we can't understand. Dr. Harari explains it better than I do in "21 Lessons for the 21st Century", but this tool is part…

> I hope that Europe figures out a regulatory framework that works. Is this even possible with complex fast-changing software? They always seem to be busy figuring out last decades issues. Or when they do respond to new things it's usually a FUD-riddled overreaction that just straight up cripples the new things so we're only left with the options that the ordained organizations like Visa and Mastercard come up with.…

> If anything we need some simple core digital privacy rights ala the constitution or charters of rights.

Exactly. That's the core of it. We certain do have a lot of laws that apply online already. Harassment, for example, applies just as much online as in person. Medical records are still protected, regardless of how they're stored.

What we lack is much of anything relating to scale. Some behaviors are just a completely different beast at scale. The first thing that comes to mind is election interference. I don't think highly-targeted ads/content should be permitted in politics. Selling personal data without permission should also be illegal. Right now it's ad companies selling ad campaigns which isn't a big deal. But how long before it's so easy to run facial recognition, etc that you'll be able to buy bits of location history, etc on people, license plates, etc for a few dollars?

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#516

Post by tracker1 » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:08 PM UTC

Yeah, like I'll EVER trust Facebook to manage my money... If you're libertarian or conservative, you definitely cannot trust Facebook to not keep your money, let alone safe. And if you aren't, you probably shouldn't.

I don't mean to be tin foil hat... but given the amount of account deletions that FB, Twitter, Pinterest and to some extent Youtube and Instagram. I don't agree with the people blocked necessarily, but it belies anything resembling what should be required to trust them.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#517

Post by jsilence » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:09 PM UTC

Kill it with fire!

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#518

Post by tracker1 » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:10 PM UTC

tetrisgm wrote: post #22

It’s going to be interesting. “Unlike previous stablecoins, Libra will not be issued by a central party. Instead, Facebook has enlisted 27 fellow Silicon Valley titans—among them PayPal, Visa, Spotify, Mastercard, Uber, and eBay—to operate as preliminary “validator nodes” who will each share a transparent copy of a vast ledger of transactions reflecting all the activity on the network.” That sounds amazingly dystopia…

Also, what happens when they decide you're "alt-right" and block your wallet?

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#519

Post by joeyspn » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

bufferoverflow wrote: post #490

What I really don't get is the regulatory aspect. They are creating a financial derivative asset/instrument. To be moved across the borders. In what freaking universe will the regulators not be all over it with endless KYC/ML rules?

Not "endless", but chances are they'll simply apply "standard" money transmitter rules... and yes, that includes KYC/AML

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#520

Post by redthrowaway » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

dmix wrote: post #481

moosey wrote: post #233

If this succeeds, it will be a data collection tool the likes of which the world has never seen, which is why so many companies are willing to put their name on it. The data, along with ML/AI, and our contemporary understanding of the human mind, means that this is a major step towards control that we can't understand. Dr. Harari explains it better than I do in "21 Lessons for the 21st Century", but this tool is part…

> I hope that Europe figures out a regulatory framework that works. Is this even possible with complex fast-changing software? They always seem to be busy figuring out last decades issues. Or when they do respond to new things it's usually a FUD-riddled overreaction that just straight up cripples the new things so we're only left with the options that the ordained organizations like Visa and Mastercard come up with.…

Europe sure managed to slay the dragon of those evil cookies what with the banners plastered all over every site forcing you to click a button to close them.

Cookies have been around for 25 years and are dead simple, and Brussels failed spectacularly to understand, let alone sensibly regulate, them. Colour me skeptical they'll manage to wrangle something that even the people working on it barely understand, and that's changing on a yearly basis.