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Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

decrypt.co

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Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#601

Post by lawrenceg »

mattferderer wrote: post #595

What I haven't heard is how they plan to help US Citizens properly report taxes on any gain or loss when spending Libra. Either the IRS will need to look the other way or this will become a huge hurdle for mass adoption in the US. My hope is this helps get the IRS moving faster at making some laws based around using cryptocurrency to buy & sell goods. I do get that this isn't an easy decision to make. At some point s…

From my understanding, the US market is not a priority for them with this project. They're looking at the unbanked markets first and foremost.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#602

Post by apazzolini »

vivekd wrote: post #557

This is an interesting story and I would like to learn more about libra-coin. Unfortunately I think hackernews has a strong anti-facebook bias that is making the opinions here nearly universally one sided. I think we can say three things fairly uncontroversially in favor of this 1. The world could use an online independent currency 2. Adding stability to blockchain currencies and having that work on a large scale is…

1. Another one?

2. In the sense that it'll likely lift other cryptos, sure. Is that actually a good thing?

3. Facebook IS the internet for many consumers in third world countries as their FB access is subsidized and free. I find it hard to believe FB isn't going to similarly force-push Libra.

Hacker News is biased against both Facebook and cryptocurrency, and for good reasons. I hope Libra fails.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#603

Post by Morizero »

vivekd wrote: post #557

This is an interesting story and I would like to learn more about libra-coin. Unfortunately I think hackernews has a strong anti-facebook bias that is making the opinions here nearly universally one sided. I think we can say three things fairly uncontroversially in favor of this 1. The world could use an online independent currency 2. Adding stability to blockchain currencies and having that work on a large scale is…

> a strong anti-facebook bias

I can tell you from own experience that Facebook's dark patterns are incredibly frustrating at best, and at worst come off as malicious to the end-user.

For example, I refuse to download the Facebook app. When using the mobile website, it often shows me as having new messages. Clicking the notification then redirects me to download the app. Requesting the desktop site, however, shows no notifications and has no redirect.

How am I supposed to trust a company that puts me through that? Is it a bias when they actually lie to me almost daily?

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#604

Post by JaRail »

la_barba wrote: post #475

I think this is an interesting move from FB. Google has been trying to get payments data by extracting it out of your emails and any other data that resides on their servers. I don't know if they've been correlating it with search/dns/ad data, but I suspect they sneakily have been. By getting all the major payment processors on board for the operations/logistics, and with FB providing the tech, they can all share the…

Of course Google uses it to drive their own ad engagement. Say you want to look up your flight info. Instead of going back to the original email, you have all the info in the assistant. Instead of seeing rental car ads from the airline, you get them through Google.. You get to check out attractions in the city you're visiting through Maps.. it's obviously not all 1:1. Google isn't so pushy with their ads. They like to be subtle. But yea, they clearly get to serve more interesting ads by hijacking these workflows.

Slightly less obvious what they do Amazon toilet-paper receipts. Often things can just be aggregated into really good business intelligence. They could data mine what shows netflix is recommending, etc. I'm honestly not sure what kind of protections they offer in terms of extracting aggregate data from email. It's creepy so they'd keep it mostly internal.. but I'm sure they would have found some really interesting ways to use it.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#605

Post by choppaface »

vivekd wrote: post #557

This is an interesting story and I would like to learn more about libra-coin. Unfortunately I think hackernews has a strong anti-facebook bias that is making the opinions here nearly universally one sided. I think we can say three things fairly uncontroversially in favor of this 1. The world could use an online independent currency 2. Adding stability to blockchain currencies and having that work on a large scale is…

> 3. Unlike government issued currencies, any monopoly or control facebook derives isn't done through force, it's by making a coin better than all the other coins. Other people are still free to make their competing coins.

But how do you define “better”? Bitcoin has shown you can have non-consensus about very basic things like the ledger and all chaos breaks loose. And what if it’s a large corporation driving non-consensus?

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#606

Post by buboard »

jpmattia wrote: post #546

Again: A ledger that is not decentralized is a bank database, not a cryptocurrency. As near as I can tell, Zuckbucks are nothing more than the JPMorganCryptocurrency but with a bigger consortium. The only difference seems to be who is given write privileges to the database.

The key here is the ability to exchange it for other coins. If Libra partners can block exchanges, they will use that power as soon as they are requested to by regulators.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#607

Post by sdegutis »

vgoh1 wrote: post #580
dmje wrote: post #542

Kind of interested in what this means for a non Facebook user. As one of those I already feel sometimes marginalised when content is shared on their walled garden and I need my wife to look at the dates for my kids’ sporting events because they’re only published on Facebook. Now I’m going to be unable to carry out financial transactions, too.

Exactly why I would love to see this fail. I try to be a non-Facebook user, but everyone uses Messenger, and my local Craigslist has deteriorated because everyone sells on Facebook now, so I use it for certain things. Every once in a while, I find myself getting sucked into the "feed" view on my way to the Facebook Marketplace, especially since on mobile, every time I press "back" from a listing that I go into detail…

That is incredibly unethical and standard behavior for Facebook.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#608

Post by cat199 »

vivekd wrote: post #557

This is an interesting story and I would like to learn more about libra-coin. Unfortunately I think hackernews has a strong anti-facebook bias that is making the opinions here nearly universally one sided. I think we can say three things fairly uncontroversially in favor of this 1. The world could use an online independent currency 2. Adding stability to blockchain currencies and having that work on a large scale is…

> 1. The world could use an online independent currency

and how exactly does having a stablecoin backed by facebook and a consortium of other vc/bank funded corporations achieve this?

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#609

Post by dang »

facefuck wrote: post #597
WhiteOwlLion wrote: post #590

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is PayPal any different?

Just explain your opinion you annoying idiot.

We've banned this account for breaking the site guidelines. Could you please not create accounts to do that with?

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#610

Post by trhway »

an_d_rew wrote: post #576
vivekd wrote: post #557

This is an interesting story and I would like to learn more about libra-coin. Unfortunately I think hackernews has a strong anti-facebook bias that is making the opinions here nearly universally one sided. I think we can say three things fairly uncontroversially in favor of this 1. The world could use an online independent currency 2. Adding stability to blockchain currencies and having that work on a large scale is…

Well, perhaps a deep exploration of the pros and cons are warranted, but... FB has been caught willfully and negligently lying multiple times. (And yes, I'm aware that many banks have done the same.) Nonetheless, why would I choose to trust them over any other payment system? What's Zuck's testimony to Congress going to be in five years? "We could have done better. We will do better. Who could have forseen this night…

Those dumb f@cks trust me with their money...
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