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Calibra – Digital Wallet for Libra

calibra.com

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Re: Calibra – Digital Wallet for Libra

#21

Post by leppr »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #12
pmlnr wrote: post #9

> Imagine if cash became digital. Been there, in China, with Alipay. Absolutely no way for an EU person to pay with it: doesn't accept European phone number for sign up and since the end of 2018 one can not get a proper Chinese SIM with a passport. Don't touch cash. That's the only fallback we have for outages, when someone is without data connection (ghasp!) or for scenarios where politics or decisions make it impos…

"since the end of 2018 one can not get a proper Chinese SIM with a passport" I took my passport to a China Unicom shop in Beijing a few weeks ago, to get a SIM for a visiting relative. The process took about 10 minutes. "Alipay is that it requires data connection from both sides" No it doesn't. If I print out my payment QR code, you can scan it and pay me even if my phone is off. When I buy vegetables at the market,…

> No it doesn't. If I print out my payment QR code, you can scan it and pay me even if my phone is off. When I buy vegetables at the market, the vendors have their Alipay and WeChat QR codes displayed on stickers.

That's fine for very small amounts like groceries in a market but this is very easy to cheat with a fake client app on the buyer's device.

Re: Calibra – Digital Wallet for Libra

#22

Post by wickoff »

dgellow wrote: post #11

From the FAQ: > Question: How will you prevent fraud? > Anwer: All accounts and transactions are verified, and fraud prevention is built in throughout the app. Accounts are verified with government-issued ID, so you know people are who they say they are. Facebook and WhatsApp account information are also used when available to verify identity and prevent fraud. Calibra also has in-app reporting and dedicated customer…

You don't need to ask Facebook permission to transfer the money, but they reserve the right to intervene if you commit fraud. That's why they are using a blockchain.

The governments will love it because it allows for perfect surveillance, the people will love it because it makes international payments seamless, it can erase the predatory remittance business out of existence. If they can convince merchants to accept it, they can also improve on credit card UX.

Re: Calibra – Digital Wallet for Libra

#23

Post by olalonde »

pmlnr wrote: post #16
rahimnathwani wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"since the end of 2018 one can not get a proper Chinese SIM with a passport" I took my passport to a China Unicom shop in Beijing a few weeks ago, to get a SIM for a visiting relative. The process took about 10 minutes. "Alipay is that it requires data connection from both sides" No it doesn't. If I print out my payment QR code, you can scan it and pay me even if my phone is off. When I buy vegetables at the market,…

> I took my passport to a China Unicom shop in Beijing a few weeks ago, to get a SIM for a visiting relative. The process took about 10 minutes. Tried to do the same in a tourist city (not a tier 1 city), beginning of May, didn't work. I wanted a full SIM, not a data only SIM though, which one did you get? > No it doesn't. If I print out my payment QR code, you can scan it and pay me even if my phone is off. When I b…

> Tried to do the same in a tourist city (not a tier 1 city), beginning of May, didn't work. I wanted a full SIM, not a data only SIM though, which one did you get?

You just got unlucky... I bought one recently at China Mobile (Shenzhen). They do ask for passport and it takes about 10 minutes.

Re: Calibra – Digital Wallet for Libra

#24

Post by themanual »

Big news. Nice to see more details.

- They have GAS fees. (unlike say EOS which is free). - Not sure how they will make accounts anonymous? Knowing an account lets anyone query the account balance? - They will start with permissioned chain and transition to non permissioned

Re: Calibra – Digital Wallet for Libra

#25

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

ilaksh wrote: post #14

This is Facebook's attempt to cash in on the cryptocurrency hype with a high tech type of bank before real cryptocurrencies can scale and become mainstream. I consider it a moral imperative for developers to stop this. In fact I will probably make some comment like that at some point on their GitHub pages. Which I expect to be removed. But this is the good fight. It's what Star Wars is really about. Defeating the evi…

I agree with your first point. Calibra without the "cryptocurrency blockchain" keywords would still have the same utility.

As to your second point, may I ask why you consider it a moral imperative for developers to stop this?

Re: Calibra – Digital Wallet for Libra

#27

Post by pmlnr »

sprafa wrote: post #17
pmlnr wrote: post #9

> Imagine if cash became digital. Been there, in China, with Alipay. Absolutely no way for an EU person to pay with it: doesn't accept European phone number for sign up and since the end of 2018 one can not get a proper Chinese SIM with a passport. Don't touch cash. That's the only fallback we have for outages, when someone is without data connection (ghasp!) or for scenarios where politics or decisions make it impos…

Alipay appears to be available in Europe now, as the UEFA Nations League tickets could be bought using either alipay or card. source: I bought Nations League tickets.

To sell, yes. Not to buy with it. I couldn't rent a bicycle in Hangzhou because if this.

Re: Calibra – Digital Wallet for Libra

#28

Post by pmlnr »

olalonde wrote: post #23
pmlnr wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I took my passport to a China Unicom shop in Beijing a few weeks ago, to get a SIM for a visiting relative. The process took about 10 minutes. Tried to do the same in a tourist city (not a tier 1 city), beginning of May, didn't work. I wanted a full SIM, not a data only SIM though, which one did you get? > No it doesn't. If I print out my payment QR code, you can scan it and pay me even if my phone is off. When I b…

> Tried to do the same in a tourist city (not a tier 1 city), beginning of May, didn't work. I wanted a full SIM, not a data only SIM though, which one did you get? You just got unlucky... I bought one recently at China Mobile (Shenzhen). They do ask for passport and it takes about 10 minutes.

Both Beijing and Shenzen are Tier 1. And again, a full SIM or a data only SIM?

Re: Calibra – Digital Wallet for Libra

#30

Post by sametmax »

pmlnr wrote: post #9

> Imagine if cash became digital. Been there, in China, with Alipay. Absolutely no way for an EU person to pay with it: doesn't accept European phone number for sign up and since the end of 2018 one can not get a proper Chinese SIM with a passport. Don't touch cash. That's the only fallback we have for outages, when someone is without data connection (ghasp!) or for scenarios where politics or decisions make it impos…

Also cash is the only thing that works if your system gets unfair in some way. It's the only thing that allows a hobo to stay in touch with society, paying in a gay bar without trace, setup a political group that the state would deem immoral, experiment with banned drugs, buy censored books and journals, etc

If you like democracy, you need a small, but resiliant grey zone. You need to allow a few people to take the risk of doing what's condamned. It's not sexy, but it's necessary.

Do not outlaw cash.

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