Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1132126
20.06.19 7 that its Calibra wallet will be a stand-alone product, and that the company won't pull in data from its other sites—such as a user's friends—unless a user gives the company permission to do so. Facebook also points to the Libra Foundation struc- ture to make the case that it's only one of dozens of entities building the new global cur- rency. New coin on the block ere's also the question of whether Facebook—or an- yone—can pull off such an ambitious, multi-pronged en- deavor to begin with— espe- cially as previous attempts to build consortia in the block- chain field have fallen flat. e initiative is rife with reg- ulatory land mines, especial- ly if governments regard the new Libra currency as a way to subvert their own financial policies. But Marcus counters that this is not an issue, saying countries regard the spread of cryptocurrencies as inevitable, and that many will welcome Libra as a more efficient way for people to transfer money. Meanwhile, it's also unclear how Facebook's partners might benefit from the pro- ject. In the case of global tech firms Uber and Spotify, their executives likely see an op- portunity to reduce payment processing costs, and to reach new customers who lack cred- it cards. Financial firms may view Project Libra as a new beach- head to challenge banks, while also providing an opportunity to look for new business op- portunities. According to Kathryn Haun of Andreessen Horowitz, the business of running a node will not be about grabbing data, but rather about being at the forefront of financial inno- vation. Ultimately it's consumers who will determine whether Facebook's grand gambit will succeed or fail, with the most important test of Libra likely being convenience. If the currency's use becomes widespread and proves to be more useful than payment op- tions like credit cards, debit cards, Venmo and Bitcoin, it could transform large parts of the tech and finance indus- tries. en again, it could also in- spire others — notably Apple or Amazon — to launch cryp- tocurrency networks of their own. NEWS FACEBOOK succeeded in at least one part of its new dig- ital currency grand plan: Get a spotlight. Regulators in both the United States and Europe are al- ready pushing for strong oversight — in one case, Rep. Maxine Waters is pushing for a moratorium on the plans entirely — and every newspaper, tech company and gov- ernment on Earth is taking a magnifying glass to Face- book's newly announced ambitions. ey're finding gran- diose plans along with big unanswered questions. "Facebook is already too big and too powerful, and it has used that power to exploit users' data without protecting their privacy," Sen. Sherrod Brown said in a statement on Tuesday. "We cannot allow Facebook to run a risky new cryptocurrency out of a Swiss bank account without over- sight. I'm calling on our financial watchdogs to scrutinize this closely to ensure users are protected." What about over in the cryptocurrency world? Includ- ing both serious technologists and bona fide hucksters, the cryptocurrency realm is extremely attentive to Mark Zuckerberg's new play. Some are positively optimistic, others are treating this as the early stages of a techno-poc- alypse. Influential American bitcoin advocate Erik Voorhees sees Facebook's move, above all, as a big win for the block- chain industry. "Zoom out for a second and realize how far this indus- try has come," he tweeted. "e biggest companies in the world are now launching cryptocurrencies. BOOM." After the celebration, Voorhees talked about Libra's pri- vacy issues: "Libra is clearly not a 'pure cryptocurrency.' Nobody should expect privacy by using it. Nobody should expect the true borderless standard of most cryptos. Libra will never be available in Iran due to sanctions, for exam- ple. Next: the governing consortium can explicitly block/ prevent txs. You won't find unstoppable finance here. Again, in this, traditional cryptos are far superior. But let's be realistic, there's no way FB could create an unstoppable coin (at least, not in its 1st phase…)" Spencer Chen, Vice President over at the cryptocurren- cy wallet BRD, was among the optimists: "It's probably the mainstream kickstart + broad adoption blockchain needs." Cryptocurrency-focused subreddits like /r/CryptoCur- rency and /r/Bitcoin have been diving deep on Libra and there is a fair amount of discontent about how the funda- mental nature of Libra — centralised control, censorable, backed by fiat currency — cuts against cryptocurrency's roots. ere is, likewise, real excitement over what it means for the industry as a whole. Although there have been questions raised about the overall success of this project particularly outside of the cryptocurrency realm, on the inside they're focusing on the potentially world-changing possibilities — for better or worse. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, wrote that Facebook has a chance to "reshape the payment industry" and start the "un-dollarization of the world." e Johns Hopkins cryptographer Matthew Green sees far darker possibilities: "I don't think it's possible to ex- press what a catastrophic regression this thing is going to be. Say what you want about Visa and the legacy banks, they don't broadcast your transaction details to the world." e next year will undoubtedly see some big questions answered as Libra moves toward launch. It likely won't be until that launch day some time in the first half of 2020 that we'll get the see this thing in action. Whatever camp you find yourself in, now that one of the biggest and most powerful companies in history has part- nered with dozens of other giants in an effort to change money, it's worth paying attention to Zuck's bigger mach- inations whether you're excited or horrified or both.t How the crypto world is responding to Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency gambit ever Is Mark Zuckerberg out to democratise banking?