Not surprised, when I saw the heavyweights all part of Libra, I think this was their intention all along. They hoped that it would fail, I wouldn't be surprised if behind the scenes they lobbied against it. They seem to have latched onto it so if it took off they won't be left behind. It was really order seeing companies like MasterCard & PayPal as part of it.
Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
261–270 of 293 posts
Re: Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
#262Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know what Libra's plans are but couldn't Facebook make their own Paypal? What would really be the difference? I can hold a balance at Paypal. I can pay others and others can pay me. The "crypto" part seems like an implementation detail but otherwise irrelevant. Note: I'm not saying Facebook should be allowed to make their own Paypal. I'm just curious other than "Facebook scary because big" what other reason w…
> The "crypto" part seems like an implementation detail but otherwise irrelevant. Nail on the head. The innovation with cryptocurrencies is decentralized byzantine fault tolerance, using unknown actors. Libra is based on BFT where all parties are known, which has been a solved problem way before Bitcoin. The "crypto" part is irrelevant.
Yeah, there's no reason they need crypto to offer some type of scrip that is backed by a basket of currencies in the same way... what does crypto really add to this situation? Blockchain transparency? Frankly I don't want all of my transactions transparently available.
Re: Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
#263Earlier quoted context omitted.
">If Libra ignored these rules..." This isn't like Uber silently encroaching on a city's taxi medallion laws with grey-area definitions of "taxi" and "employee". Facebook cannot do something like this without attracting scrutiny at every stage, and as we saw with Robinhood, the financial regulation systems are relatively quick to act. Especially if they "defy govs", then those government's will have every reason to c…
> This is one area where Facebook will need to finesse their way through Governments and banks are hand in glove. FB does not have an army, nor more Lawyers than the US GovernMint (to name just one). Oh yeah, and if you don't believe almost every US news source is GovernMint controlled--I just have no words to describe your "optimism."
I'd need some expansion on the statement that media is government controlled. Yes, they are beholden to what the government is willing to tell them, but investigative reporting often digs up more. I have a hard time believing they're government controlled when at any given time, the government in power is faced with a large media segment that is biased against their political agenda.
If there is some level of control, it is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the strict authoritarian control of media in many other countries, so it's still much more "free" than many alternatives.
Re: Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
#264I hope Libra goes through, even with the Cambridge Analytica scandal and everything.
It might lite a fire under goverments to take some action and create a proper crypto currency at the state or maybe even EU level for example, it's time.
Just try to run a business and take online payments via credit card, using something like Stripe for example. Literally near 8 to 10% of your transactions will FAIL, just like that.
Customers that want to pay you and their card fails a huge percentage of times, preventing you from gaining recurring customers.
The current credit card system is a mess, its a thing of the past sorely needing competition. It's ready to be disrupted by the next big thing and if its Facebook Libra, I'll take it.
Re: Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
#265Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure but you could plug that into google as well you know. Here is the first hit: https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-stati... Edit: oddly enough, that hit wasn't the one where I read about it last week... But any page with sources works I suppose.
Doesn’t that link claim 1.3 billion Facebook Messenger users? How does that support your claim?
Ugh stop turning everything into an American lawyer singularity. I said FB Messenger isn't very popular outside of NA and it isn't. What more do you want from me.
Here is a picture, convince yourself: https://www.messengerpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/w...
There is north america, a few african countries, france and a few eastern European countries and australia. The rest is practically WhatsApp except for china which is WeChat.
Re: Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
#266Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your card isn't your account, just an avenue to getting at the money in your account, so it's not quite the same. I can go into a bank branch, or log into online banking and still access my money. I can also go into a branch or phone my bank and get my card unblocked. In all cases where my bank has blocked my card, they've been contactable (24/7), though to be honest, they've always contacted me in less than a minute…
Why would Facebook not have the same level of support as a bank, when they launch Libra? Doesnt seem to be a strong argument.
probably because we have precedent of social media companies not bothering with that level of support/intentionally avoiding having to provide proper support. There's no reason to assume Facebook will change that either.
Re: Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
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).
Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram are all owened bu Facebook. Facebook is already working on merging them into a single app, to be rebranded in the near future. WhatsApp and Instagram have huge popularity outside of North America
I get their desire to integrate Messenger and WhatsApp, but are they really trying to force Instagram into that mix too?
I’ve used WhatsApp since before FB acquired them but this is sounding like it’s going to get turned into a clusterfuck of stuff I have no interest in.
Re: Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
#268I suspect France, Germany, US and other govs are pressuring PayPal, Mastercard, VISA and others to withdraw, and that’s the main reason they’re getting cold feet.
Re: Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
#269Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're not in general paid in "visa". You either have a bank account and can withdraw cash, or you can get paid in cash. Now,if you're paid into your libra account (or indeed PayPal account, Apple pay, Google whatever) - then you're indeed at the whim of those companies use policies. Visa won't stop your card over a nude Pic on Facebook - but Facebook might suspend your account and your libra over it. Note that for e…
> Visa won't stop your card over a nude Pic on Facebook Member banks of VISA can. Remember that VISA is a limited-liability partnership founded by banks.
They don't have access to your not-world-public Facebook posts, or flagged posts?
So they literally cannot flag your bank details over such things?
Do you mean that visa employees can flag your account over personal reasons?
Re: Paypal Withdraws from Facebook's Libra Cryptocurrency
#270Here 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…
I think the partners are all realizing the last thing they want to be involved in is a project with banking regulations / consequences and a partner that so far has thumbed its nose at government oversight.