> considering how popular it is Excuse me, popular with whom?
Maybe it's not in use, but it's been getting a lot of press. It's on people's radar and that's valuable in and of itself.
The only press coverage I see about Libra is how governments are not gonna let this run and a bunch of other negative remarks (possibly drawn from the fact that this is a Facebok project which is seen as am evil company by many).
I don’t understand how is that valuable? If that’s valuable then all companies with bad press would increase their valuations. Unlike the popular saying there’s actually such thing as “bad press”.
I personally hope key governments deep-six it. Facebook has shown itself to be untrustworthy for personal data - in what interesting ways will they abuse a custodial role on a currency?
Governments are as untrustworthy as Facebook but more scary as they have a monopoly on violence and can take away your life. The best outcome here is that Libra doesn't launch at all in any capacity.
I don't get to vote for president of Facebook.... in fact, no one does.
You can have your Jennifer Government, I'll keep the real thing.
If Facebook attempts to become a money transfer service or bank without the required licensing, they will have their offices raided and their doors locked on them. This is something Governments don't tend to mess around with.
My understanding is that they are limiting the relationship between Facebook as a corporate entity and Libra, at least on paper. Whether regulators treat it this way is another matter. But FB must be spending a lot on lobbying, and that should help them avoid any major surprises regarding enforcement actions.
> But FB must be spending a lot on lobbying
That only helps them in countries like the US where bribery is legal.
My understanding is that they are limiting the relationship between Facebook as a corporate entity and Libra, at least on paper. Whether regulators treat it this way is another matter. But FB must be spending a lot on lobbying, and that should help them avoid any major surprises regarding enforcement actions.
> But FB must be spending a lot on lobbying That only helps them in countries like the US where bribery is legal.
Why wouldn't it help in countries where bribery is illegal?
Even if the regulators let them get away with that, nobody in Europe is particularly in need of a cryptocurrency for moving money around Europe, we have near-instant money transfers for free (or close to it) through our banks. I guess they could go for the remittances market, but that's really not where I see Facebook wanting to go.
Well, I still think that email is good enough medium for personal communication, but most of the people I know have replaced it with Messenger. The same might happen with money transfers, if Messenger becomes another WeChat, just outside of China. From the legal perspective, could Facebook be like Coinbase, but with a single currency?
Messenger isn't all that popular outside of north america. Doesn't matter how much money transfer options you add to a program if nobody is using it. I do wonder what happens if any non WeChat thing starts going for banking type functionality (legal or not).
Here are some wild predictions I'm making + Many (or potentially all of the backers except Facebook) will withdraw from the alliance. + Facebook/Zuckerberg will defy the gov.s and launch Libra. + Libra might not dominate the world, but it'll be a success (at least a niche success) and it'll eat up some of the marketshare of these financial institutions. I think Zuckerberg has come (or already know) to the realization…
The goal of Libra was not really to compete with Western Union. It was more to compete with real cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, etc. and it wasn't just Facebook's idea. PayPal, Visa etc. know that real cryptocurrencies are eventually going to put them out of business. That's why they joined in on this fake cryptocurrency. The reason companies are pulling out is probably just because it looks like it…
It's way more complex than that. Pretty much everyone in government and the crypto space doesn't want Libra to succeed under it's current stewardship. The implications are very far reaching. Also, there isn't a single cryptocurrency today that can't be tracked, even ones like Monero.
If Facebook attempts to become a money transfer service or bank without the required licensing, they will have their offices raided and their doors locked on them. This is something Governments don't tend to mess around with.
Except that
1. Same has been said of Bitcoin, and yet the government kinda embraced it.
2. Facebook is not making Libra. It is a non-profit based in Switzerland.
3. Libra is backed by USD-EUR-JPY and the related countries might turn a blind eye because of that.
If Facebook attempts to become a money transfer service or bank without the required licensing, they will have their offices raided and their doors locked on them. This is something Governments don't tend to mess around with.
Except that 1. Same has been said of Bitcoin, and yet the government kinda embraced it. 2. Facebook is not making Libra. It is a non-profit based in Switzerland. 3. Libra is backed by USD-EUR-JPY and the related countries might turn a blind eye because of that.
You forgot to add that many of us suspect Google and Facebook are outsourced DoD projects.
If Facebook attempts to become a money transfer service or bank without the required licensing, they will have their offices raided and their doors locked on them. This is something Governments don't tend to mess around with.
Except that 1. Same has been said of Bitcoin, and yet the government kinda embraced it. 2. Facebook is not making Libra. It is a non-profit based in Switzerland. 3. Libra is backed by USD-EUR-JPY and the related countries might turn a blind eye because of that.