Facebook’s foray into digital currencies risks reversing gains in privacy and user sovereignty won by computer networking pioneers, according to one of the co-founders of ethereum.
Browsing: Libra
President Donald Trump on Thursday night warned Facebook over its plan to create a digital currency, the libra, a move that poses a new obstacle to the company’s cryptocurrency ambitions.
Financial regulators must act fast to prepare for the push by US technology giants like Facebook into the financial system, according to European Central Bank executive board member Benoit Coeure.
Visa, Mastercard and PayPal may have boosted the single, greatest risk they face – that of tougher regulation – by becoming early backers for Facebook’s new digital money, called libra.
Among Facebook’s justifications for introducing a new digital currency, libra, the company has offered one pious rationale: to connect the 1.7 billion adults who lack bank accounts to the global financial system.
Facebook’s libra cryptocurrency has taken a lot of criticism from Western government officials and media commentators – but it’s not meant for them.
Bitcoin continued its stellar rally on Wednesday, surpassing the $12 000 level for the first time in almost a year and a half.
Facebook’s plan for a new cryptocurrency has the potential to change entire industries. A more likely outcome is that the technology transforms the social media giant’s own business.
Much of the commentary about Facebook’s proposed libra coin has focused on its defects as a cryptocurrency. It’s more interesting to examine the process for creating libra rather than specific technical features.
Facebook was hours away from the formal announcement of its ambitious foray into financial services, but French finance minister Bruno Le Maire was already broadcasting his discontent.