Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#211

Post by cujic9 » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:47 PM UTC

hjk05 wrote: post #100

sins wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate on what Bitcoin failed at?

I tried to buy a cup of coffee recently at a bitcoin only cafe. Though I didn’t end up paying with bitcoin because it took a day for the bitcoin atm deposit to clear. So I asked a friend who worked in the building to spot me a cup of coffee, and he paid... by making a line on a piece of paper they used to do bookkeeping denoted in fiat because no-one wanted to go through the hassle of bitcoin transfers and no one had…

Yes, Bitcoin is a poor fit for face-to-face transactions, but that doesn't mean it failed.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#212

Post by microcolonel » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:48 PM UTC

fnoof wrote: post #195

From the white paper: > "Libra’s mission is to enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people." They do this by issuing coins in exchange for fiat money, which is held by the reserve. > "Interest on the reserve assets will be used to cover the costs of the system, ensure low transaction fees, pay dividends to investors who provided capital to jumpstart the ecosystem [...…

If they could provide any history of being principled in their application of policy, it might be worth it; but as it stands, Facebook just sorta arbitrarily unpersons people on their platform, which gives me the impression that they'd be perfectly willing to debank them as well.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#213

Post by thefounder » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:49 PM UTC

rogerkirkness wrote: post #188

It seems like Facebook is simply following through on the Web 1.0 vision that Thiel and Musk chased. The first Facebook product I might use in a long time. This seems inevitable on reflection. Skepticism is valid, at the same time consider carefully if this is worse than The Fed.

>> Skepticism is valid, at the same time consider carefully if this is worse than The Fed.

Are you serious? Are you comparing facebook credits 2.0 with The Fed?

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#214

Post by yertletheturtle » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:50 PM UTC

Maybe I'm an idiot and don't understand the marketing lingo but what exactly is the use-case for this? Why among all of the tech companies is Facebook the one to create a crypto currency?

What do they plan on doing with this?

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#215

Post by beezischillin » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:50 PM UTC

I would never ever ever ever trust PayPal, Spotify, Mastercard and the likes to manage my money.

It simply sounds like lots and lots and lots of happy little "accidents" and "bugs" waiting to happen for political opponents as they lose their livelihoods. The people who came up with the whole "Manifest Observable Behavior" and random "Suspended for Breach of Community Standards" violations have no place around anyone's money.

It's not even related to protecting a specific political ideology, we can see daily how these companies treat users regardless of any specific belief or opinion on politics. I would rather not get / see anyone deplatformed from owning money should something like this become big.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#216

Post by eric_cc » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:50 PM UTC

hjk05 wrote: post #100

sins wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate on what Bitcoin failed at?

I tried to buy a cup of coffee recently at a bitcoin only cafe. Though I didn’t end up paying with bitcoin because it took a day for the bitcoin atm deposit to clear. So I asked a friend who worked in the building to spot me a cup of coffee, and he paid... by making a line on a piece of paper they used to do bookkeeping denoted in fiat because no-one wanted to go through the hassle of bitcoin transfers and no one had…

Your comment does not even deserve thoughtful responses in my opinion. You are clearly uneducated on the subject and it's your responsibility, not ours, to fix that should you choose to.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#217

Post by 50656E6973 » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:50 PM UTC

Loughla wrote: post #175

ymolodtsov wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Build something better that will get more adoption then?

I'm trying to understand how your statement isn't just a flippant nonsense remark. How can I, me, one person, make something that is 'better' (how do you even define that) and will get more adoption than something that is being rolled out by one of the largest and already most popular platforms? What a ridiculous statement you've made. Just a useless statement to make yourself feel superior, is what it looks like.

It's the same as saying "if you don't like the country then leave it"

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#218

Post by JaimeThompson » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:51 PM UTC

maaarghk wrote: post #65

buryat wrote: post #23

how do i mine it?

from the whitepaper: The Libra Association also serves as the entity through which the Libra Reserve is managed, and hence the stability and growth of the Libra economy are achieved. The association is the only party able to create (mint) and destroy (burn) Libra. Coins are only minted when authorized resellers have purchased those coins from the association with fiat assets to fully back the new coins. Coins are onl…

Does the white paper make clear how / if those rules can be changed in the future?

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#219

Post by fnoof » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:52 PM UTC

mensetmanusman wrote: post #207

fnoof wrote: post #195

From the white paper: > "Libra’s mission is to enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people." They do this by issuing coins in exchange for fiat money, which is held by the reserve. > "Interest on the reserve assets will be used to cover the costs of the system, ensure low transaction fees, pay dividends to investors who provided capital to jumpstart the ecosystem [...…

There would be savings for cross border transactions. If governments aren’t going to support banking the poor, then why does it matter who does it?

It could definitely help a lot of unbanked people. But that seems to be a nice benefit rather than the core mission.

Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

#220

Post by sb636 » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 1:52 PM UTC

Can someone help me understand how Libra or other cryptos for that matter can actually be used? Who will accept the coin as a form of payment? Can these ever be used to buy essentials (food, clothes, shelter)? It doesn't seem so at the moment, and until then, I find it hard to imagine businesses or individuals would be happy to accept Libra as a form of payment.