For anyone interested, here's the protocol paper:
https://developers.libra.org/docs/assets/papers/libra-consen...
Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
961–970 of 1001 posts
Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
#962Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think India, or most other countries, will deem facebook coins an exception. It's probably being negotiated right now.
Indian central bank (RBI) is rather conservative and cautious. Also, its policies don't always agree with that of indian government. I have a strong hunch it just wouldn't let Libra be legal currency. Besides, given that currently government is run by a ulta right wing party, so it might be possible they wouldn't agree to Facebook plans.
Name me a central bank that isn't opposed to currency they cannot influence.
Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
#963Let's play a game of predictions. Regardless of HN's opinion of Facebook (and regardless of my own for that matter) I predict that this thing will work. This is only one thing my crystal ball showed me. Facebook's presence in developing economies is massive. To the point of being synonymous with "The Internet" in a number of places. But they've had a nagging problem. People in these economies consume contents, but do…
>year after that, Google will announce that they're shutting theirs
The line no one can disagree with.
Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
#964Earlier quoted context omitted.
Facebook's hold in developing economies is true. But developing economy's hold on their Fiat currency is true as well. So much so that, India is planning to jail anyone who is holding cryptocurrency for 10 years[1]! If this legislation passes, any computer scientist, mathematician, programmer who is working with crypto tokens & block chain can technically be held liable for possessing a crypto currency when they run…
> Yes, the plan to jail those who hold cryptocurrency in a democratic country is preposterous No it isn’t. We jail people who hold child pornography in democratic countries as well. The core of a democratic country is that it’s governed by democratically elected representatives, not that it’s citizens be allowed access to whatever they want independent of criminal consequences. I get you and others are calling to the…
> you aren’t free to print you own paper currency
As far as I know, in the U.S. you are free to print your own paper currency, just so long as it doesn't conterfeit that which is produced by the Federal Reserve Bank. Also, there's nothing illegal about conducting transactions with it either, provided you can find willing trade partners.
Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
#965Earlier quoted context omitted.
Facebook's hold in developing economies is true. But developing economy's hold on their Fiat currency is true as well. So much so that, India is planning to jail anyone who is holding cryptocurrency for 10 years[1]! If this legislation passes, any computer scientist, mathematician, programmer who is working with crypto tokens & block chain can technically be held liable for possessing a crypto currency when they run…
Thank you for your input. I'm not very familiar with India's politics, so I cannot be too assertive on its politicians' inflexibility. I noticed that you expanded a bit on the "cryptocurrency" angle. May I invite you to a different perspective for a second. I don't think Facebook cares whether or not their Libra is crypto or otherwise. Despite appearances this is not a discussion about crypto anything. Facebook is no…
I will try to travel on the same angle, I brought in India because you predicted Facebook's success on developing economy and India is the largest user base for Facebook besides it being a developing economy.
Crypto or not, it is still a digital currency which is not being controlled by the central bank of the country i.e. India in my example. Especially when the country is trying to roll out a digital currency of its own.
For the sake of argument, let's assume Facebook has no compliance trouble with any of the countries; will Libra be successful? It most definitely will, because Facebook has the capacity diminish friction and users would use Libra like any other coins found in a mobile game like candy crush.
Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
#966Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Is HN really more anti-Facebook than the general population? Yes, definitely. > If so, why? Because the general population cares less about privacy than HN. But I (not OP) think it goes deeper than that, and I've seen people here deliberately spreading lies about FB.
Interesting. What else, besides privacy concerns, could be at play?
A little while ago I played with the idea that if the masses were convinced that breaking up Facebook (or Google, Amazon, etc) was a good idea and that it eventually happened - the surviving BigTech "shrapnel" would be less capable to stand up against a government seeking information or control over them.
A paranoid and overly Orwellian idea for sure, but interesting to play around with!
Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
#967Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Yes, the plan to jail those who hold cryptocurrency in a democratic country is preposterous No it isn’t. We jail people who hold child pornography in democratic countries as well. The core of a democratic country is that it’s governed by democratically elected representatives, not that it’s citizens be allowed access to whatever they want independent of criminal consequences. I get you and others are calling to the…
> you aren’t free to print you own paper currency As far as I know, in the U.S. you are free to print your own paper currency, just so long as it doesn't conterfeit that which is produced by the Federal Reserve Bank. Also, there's nothing illegal about conducting transactions with it either, provided you can find willing trade partners.
> in the U.S. you are free to print your own paper currency
Indeed, this is currently done. For example:
Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
#968Let's play a game of predictions. Regardless of HN's opinion of Facebook (and regardless of my own for that matter) I predict that this thing will work. This is only one thing my crystal ball showed me. Facebook's presence in developing economies is massive. To the point of being synonymous with "The Internet" in a number of places. But they've had a nagging problem. People in these economies consume contents, but do…
Developing countries aren't going to be too happy about this. If a large number of a country's citizens adopt this, it forces that country to lose its independence over monetary policy. Since Libra is not controlled by the local government, this is not a fixed exchange rate regime, it's effectively dollarization and can have far reaching consequences. IMHO, the Libra is at the same time too ambitious (in aiming for f…
If it were to affect US economy adversely I think FED could chip in and have a say in Libra's direction. But other economies could be hurt by Libra's position.
Personally I don't mind the monetary independence of countries. But real people could lose real jobs since their governments don't get a say in Libra's governance.
Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
#969I'd guess FB is also targeting micropayments. They are already ubiquitous on many websites so why not let their users pay for content with fbcoins?
It's 2019 and micropayment is still an unsolved problem.
Re: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra
#970Let's play a game of predictions. Regardless of HN's opinion of Facebook (and regardless of my own for that matter) I predict that this thing will work. This is only one thing my crystal ball showed me. Facebook's presence in developing economies is massive. To the point of being synonymous with "The Internet" in a number of places. But they've had a nagging problem. People in these economies consume contents, but do…
This is eye opening.
Banking in many African economies came from an unexpected place: basic non-smart cell phones and the ability to transfer relatively small amounts of money quickly, reliably, and without a bank account.
I can see Facebook leveraging its foothold in such economies and providing the same service.
Wow.