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posted by chromas on Tuesday June 18 2019, @04:54PM   Printer-friendly
from the capricorn-or-taurus-but-not-libra dept.

Facebook announces Libra cryptocurrency: All you need to know

Facebook has finally revealed the details of its cryptocurrency Libra, which will let you buy things or send money to people with nearly zero fees. You'll pseudonymously buy or cash out your Libra online or at local exchange points like grocery stores, and spend it using interoperable third-party wallet apps or Facebook's own Calibra wallet that will be built into WhatsApp, Messenger, and its own app. Today Facebook released its white paper explaining Libra and its testnet for working out the kinks of its blockchain system before a public launch in the first half of 2020.

Facebook won't fully control Libra, but instead get just a single vote in its governance like other founding members of the Libra Association including Visa, Uber, and Andreessen Horowitz who've invested at least $10 million each into the project's operations. The association will promote the open-sourced Libra blockchain and developer platform with its own Move programming language plus sign up businesses to accept Libra for payment and even give customers discounts or rewards.

Facebook is launching a subsidiary company also called Calibra that handles its crypto dealings and protects users' privacy by never mingling your Libra payments with your Facebook data so it can't be used for ad targeting. Your real identity won't be tied to your publicly visible transactions. But Facebook/Calibra and other founding members of the Libra Association will earn interest on the money users cash in that is held in reserve to keep the value of Libra stable.

Also at Business Insider and The Verge.

See also: Facebook announces new cryptocurrency called Libra - business live
Facebook's Answer to Bitcoin Poses a Double Threat
How Libra Would Work for You

Previously: Facebook Cryptocurrency
Facebook Plans to Launch 'GlobalCoin' Cryptocurrency in 2020


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  • (Score: 2) by richtopia on Tuesday June 18 2019, @06:47PM (5 children)

    by richtopia (3160) on Tuesday June 18 2019, @06:47PM (#857120) Homepage Journal

    Thanks for the summary. I'm not a cryptocurrency expert, but this seems like a reasonable attempt at a fiat-backed cryptocurrency. Naturally, with this type of currency you have a central stakeholder (Libra foundation) that decides the rate that coins are "purchased" (I'm not sure what the correct verb is... minting seems inaccurate as the coins are generated only when backed with capital).

    My paranoia alarms are going off with anything started by FB, but if they can somehow democratize the organization to be truly independent I would be willing to consider the currency.

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  • (Score: 2) by bradley13 on Tuesday June 18 2019, @08:11PM (2 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Tuesday June 18 2019, @08:11PM (#857158) Homepage Journal

    Yeah, I feel exactly the same way. Everything they've announced sound so reasonable, really good even. But...it's Facebook. Also: This isn't going to disrupt the credit cards, who frankly are the major global players in consumer transactions, because the credit cards are some of the Libra founders.

    On the other hand, Facebook's motivation may be simple greed. Tney've founded a subsidiary that is basically going to be a bank. And they may sincerely hope to disrupt the banking industry, using Libra as a lever. Maybe the lever they've constructed isn't evil.

    We really could use a truly international currency outside the control of any particular nation. That's what some people thought Bitcoin (or ETH, or some other cryptocurrency) was going to be, though it never really had a chance. Having the Libra Association based in Switzerland is a good step towards keeping it independent of national politics - Switzerland isn't perfect, but it's a better choice than anything else I can think of.

    Dunno...we'll have to see what happens in the next year or three...

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 18 2019, @11:18PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 18 2019, @11:18PM (#857236)

      Btc never had a chance? Amazing how delusional people still are about what's happening. No gov or corporate coin has a chance because they will never agree to what "fair" to all interested parties, just look at what happened to SDRs.

      Meanwhile bitcoin chugs along exactly as planned (just read the first few years of bitcointalk posts to see literally everything that has come to pass was perfectly predicted back then) and you'll be adding the coming ETF to your retirement account at $100 to $1k per mbtc in a few years.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 19 2019, @12:40AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 19 2019, @12:40AM (#857265)

        If only I could understand the mind of people who just downvote stuff they don't want to hear... even if it makes them poor.

  • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Tuesday June 18 2019, @11:53PM

    by coolgopher (1157) on Tuesday June 18 2019, @11:53PM (#857252)

    Ah, you mean like it's tethered [wikipedia.org] to a fiat currency? Yeah that will totes be guaranteed safe!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 19 2019, @04:51PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 19 2019, @04:51PM (#857513)

    why would you voluntarily line up for the slave auction? why not use monero like a free person?