Amid the never-ending stream of new crypto currencies only a few seem to truly stand out. Will Facebook’s Libra be one of them? In development for over a year now, LibraCoin (internally called GlobalCoin) is Facebook’s new cryptobaby. Old hat hodlers may groan at the advent of yet another ‘decentralized’ corporate coin, but this one is likely to be marketed mainly to the unbanked & those unfamiliar with the crypto scene.
Libra Coin Lowdown
While not expected to be released until next year (along with Calibra wallet) the hype machine for its release is already ramped up. Plus Facebook has garnered more than a few heavy hitters in the financial industry to back their coin (at 10M each, mostly) including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal & Uber (full list of partners below). In hopes of countering the potential volatility of crypto markets, Libra will be pegged to a basket of government-issued currencies.Official Libra Links
- Libra Network
- Libra Developers
- Libra White Paper
- Swiss business registration for Libra Network
- GitHub
- Facebook is actively hiring for Calibra (as of June 25th).
Libra in the News
- Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz made it clear that they (& every investing partner) has an equal vote in the governance of Libra.
- Calibra won’t be available in countries which ban cryptocurrencies (including India) or are sanctioned by the U.S. .
- Conditions in many African countries may be ripe for the new Facebook coin.
- Former Trump economic adviser, Stephen Moore doesn’t hate it.
- France has gone & created a G7 cryptocurrency task force. The French Central Banker also made it very clear that they would be expected to obey all money laundering rules.
- Europe wants more details about Libra.
- Singapore is already in talks with Facebook over their regulatory & functional concerns.
- Reserve Bank of Australia Governor thinks Facebook has some work to do.
- Be sure to watch out for fakes (for Libra & Calibra).
Dissenters & Controversy
- Larry is (Wikipedia founder) not happy about it.
- U.S. Senators on the Banking Committee open letter to Zuck
- Letter from the senior Republican on the House Financial Services Committee Patrick McHenry to Democrat US Rep Maxine Waters raising questions regarding Libra development.
- Maxine Waters statement asking Facebook to temporarily halt Libra development.
- Libra is also facing political opposition in Europe.
- Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods spoke about regulations.
- Public controversy over invasiveness of Libra coin.
- In Jan 2018 Facebook banned ads promoting cryptocurrency & people haven’t forgotten.
- @udiWertheimer provides his honest opinion on FB’s ‘blockchain’ coin.
- Elizabeth Warren also has her reservations.
- As does Sherrod Brown.
- As does Sherrod Brown.
- Calibra’s logo has also fallen under scrutiny (by the guys who had it first).
- Sarah Jamie Lewis (Exec director of Open Privacy) also eloquently weighed in.
- Contributor to Forbes Daniel Döderlein disagrees with their claims that Libra will help the unbanked.
- Swiss Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has some warnings for Facebook about the development of Libra.
- The G20 has released their traditional communique for this years meeting & it discusses crypto.
- CZ Binance makes a good point.
- Jamie Dimon (CEO of JPMorgan Chase) has his own questions.
Calibra Wallet
Calibra is a Facebook subsidiary which will provide financial services & access to the Libra network. The first product they plan to introduce is a digital wallet for Libra’s new cryptocurrency (expected to launch in 2020). Their wallet will be available for Messenger, WhatsApp or as a standalone application & will allow users to save, send, store (& most likely purchase) Libra coin. We are assuming this currency will also be offered on other crypto exchanges (especially Coinbase, given they are investors).Calibra Links
Full List of Libra Partners
These companies will also allow their users convert Libra into cash.- Anchorage – digital asset custodial service
- Andreessen Horowitz – venture capital
- BisonTrails – Blockchain infrastructure as a service
- Booking Holdings – online travel
- Breakthrough Initiatives – science & space exploration
- Calibra – Facebook subsidiary created for Libra
- Coinbase – crypto wallet & exchange platform
- Creative Destruction Lab – seed-stage program for science companies
- Ebay – e-commerce
- Facebook – social media
- Farfetch – fashion e-commerce
- Kiva – 501 non-profit money-lender for low-income entrepreneurs
- Iliad – French telecommunications provider
- Lyft – ride sharing platform
- Mastercard – international payments provider
- Mercado Pago (MercadoLibre) – Argentine e-commerce (incorporated in the US)
- Mercy Corps – international disaster humanitarian aid
- PayPal – international payment platform
- PayU – online payment processing
- Ribbit Capital – startup venture capital
- Spotify – digital music platform
- Stripe – online payment provider
- Thrive Capital – tech venture capital
- Uber – ride-sharing platform
- Union Square Ventures – NYC based venture capital
- Visa – global payments provider
- Vodafone – telecommunications provider
- Women’s World Banking – provide financial support to entrepreneurs (mainly women) in underdeveloped nations
- Xapo – cryptocurrency custody provider
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