Submitted via IRC for AnonymousLuser
There's a big problem with Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency
Since Libra's unveiling, the project has gotten a chilly reception from some policymakers. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled skepticism about Facebook's plans for Libra.
"I don't think that the project can go forward ... without there being broad satisfaction with the way the company has addressed money laundering, all of those things," Powell said in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. He added that the project raised "serious concerns" for regulators.
According to The New York Times, even some of Facebook's official partners are lukewarm on the project. Partners are slated to contribute $10 million each to help fund the launch of the network. But the Times' Nathanial Popper reported in late June that "no money has changed hands so far," and he noted that some of the companies who agreed to lend their names to the project avoided making strong public statements in support of it.
That reflects significant uncertainty about how Libra will actually work—and if it's even possible to launch a network like this within the bounds of the law. Facebook is trying to build a payment system that combines the best characteristics of blockchain and conventional networks. But the result may wind up just being a contradictory mess that leaves almost everyone dissatisfied.
See Also Facebook is backpedaling from its ambitious vision for Libra
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Sunday July 21 2019, @04:42AM
Tracking your embarrassing buying habits is only a small part of it, and there is no chance that Faecebook won't build tracking into their system.
The real reason it will be shutdown is that they actually have the resources to grow a cryptocurrency into a serious threat to the current finance oligopoly. Satoshi grew bitcoin into a $200,000,000,000 behemoth as an anonymous hacker with nothing more than published code and ideals. How big could a cryptocurrency be be with a few billion in resources behind its launch?
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.