The rumor had been swelling for several weeks. Facebook has just unveiled its cryptocurrency, the Libra, by dedicating a white paper to it. Designed as a true digital motto, Libra is under the aegis of an officially independent Geneva-based association. But there is no doubt that Facebook leads the boat: Calibra, one of the 27 members of the association, is the new banking subsidiary of the largest social network in the world.
Like most cryptocurrencies, Libra relies on a blockchain, a secure, distributed database that holds all transactions. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, the Libra is backed by a reserve of assets, which limits fluctuations in its price. The Libra association, "in charge of guiding the evolution of the ecosystem", acts as a currency board, the only one authorized to create and destroy Libra "coins".
This association comes out of the shadows with a "working group" of 27 members, who are responsible for finalizing a charter of operation, and will become the "founding members" of the Libra. For this first step, Facebook has surrounded itself with payment specialists and networks:
- Blockchains specialists: Anchorage, Bison Trails, Coinbase, Xapo;
- Payment networks: Mastercard, PayPal, PayU, Stripe, Visa;
- Venture Capital: Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Initiatives, Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, Union Square Ventures;
- Telecom Operators: Iliad, Vodafone Group;
- Online sales: Booking, eBay, Farfetch, Lyft, Pago Mercado, Spotify, Uber;
NGO: Creative Destruction Lab, Kiva, Mercy Corps, Women's World Banking.
As the founding members operate validation nodes that ensure network security and transaction validity, applications must meet certain financial and technical requirements and may be blocked by existing members.
The association wants to quickly reach the hundred members, then go to an open blockchain model, whose governance would be completely decentralized. Iliad, the home of Free, speaks of an "internet of money". If Facebook recognizes that she plays a central role in the organization, she says she will let go of the reins next year.
But she keeps a foothold in the association Libra, headquartered in Geneva and locals in Silicon Valley, through Calibra. Entrusted to David Marcus, vice president of Facebook in charge of Messenger passed by the presidency of PayPal and the board of directors of Coinbase, this subsidiary is nothing other than the "Facebook bank".
There remains the question of trust. Calibra assures that it "will not share account information or financial data with Facebook" ... without your consent. But Libra will be located at the heart of Facebook products, which hopes to make some profit. Apple, Google, and now Facebook: finance is the new horizon of the giants of Silicon Valley.
What do you think of this new facebook project, is it a benefit or a disadvantage for cryptocurrency?
MY THOUGHT ABOUT LIBRA? IT WILL GIVE GREATER CREDIBILITY TO BLOCKCHAIN.
Personally I do not see Libra as a direct competitor of Bitcoin, even though many will (mistakenly) believe it is, or will be induced - because of misinformation - to do so.
Those who buy Bitcoins want to get out of the traditional system, while Libra is replicating the current system, albeit in a more efficient manner.
This is just a first step to shake up the banking system, the most obsolete technology on the planet that has slept on its laurels for centuries, enjoying secular privileges ... but from now on, every payment will go through the blockchain, and everything will be transformed.
This will lead people to better understand the blockchain or, at least, trust it. They will understand that it is not as ridiculous a technology as they had painted it at the beginning ... and that it has incredible use cases.
Once people understand what the blockchain is, then they will get to discuss why bitcoin is different from other traditional currencies.
This is a very positive sign for bitcoin, even if at the beginning it will be ostracized and I do not exclude bearish maneuvers in conjunction with the launch or the first Libra tests, to obscure its immense power.
Whether Bitcoin will fight against the current banking system or whether Libra will do it is not relevant.
In the end, on the one hand we will have Libra, clashing against the current banking system ... and Bitcoin will be on another level, an elitist level, with its unique characteristics.
The blockchain will make banks what the internet has done to the media.
Libra will bring more credibility to the blockchain and this will bring new competition to the market.
And competition is always favorable for consumers.
