Interesting summary in Bloomberg business news June 22nd, 2019.
Here’s my summary and interpretation of the article:
A summary, written by Joe Weisenthal, executive editor: digital news at Bloomberg describes the Facebook cryptocurrency Libra more as peer to peer payment network like PayPal instead of a cryptocurrency because it’s going to be backed by fiat to keep its value stabilized, so its really more of a way to move fiat around, then a cryptocurrency. It’s an attempt to use the advantages of the blockchain to allow people to transfer fiat around the globe cheaper and quicker then the existing banking system allows. So in this interpretation the Facebook Libra is more of a threat to the current banking system then it is to cryptocurrency in general and Bitcoin in particular.
I think this interpretation also leaves the door open to the Facebook Libra being the celebrity that makes the world want to learn about cryptocurrency. Once those 2.4 billion people on Facebook learn about the blockchain and learn about the restrictions the central or traditional banking system places on them and they learn about the restrictions that Libra puts on them, a certain portion are going to look for less centralized alternatives. This may be a big motivation for people to want to buy Bitcoin. But since Bitcoin is 12,000 USD now, they will probably look towards cheaper and something similar to Facebook which has a cryptocurrency, which isn’t as restrictive as Libra and that cryptocurrency will be Steem!
That’s why I am excited about Libra.
Here’s the article excerpt;
For sure: Libra is being touted as a cryptocurrency, so it’s natural to use existing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum as mental models for what it could be. But it’s probably better to think instead about traditional peer-to-peer payment networks. Whether you’re talking about PayPal, Venmo, Square, WeChat, or even Western Union, all of these networks are in some way layered on top of the traditional financial system in order to ease some type of transaction (e-commerce, check-splitting, remittances). The problem is that these networks aren’t interoperable, and in many cases the fees can be quite high. Like all these other networks, Libra will be layered on top of the existing financial system, since each coin will be backed by traditional money in the bank to support a stable price. Unlike these other networks, however, there is an opportunity to create payments unification on a global scale, and at potentially a much lower cost. And in theory, anyone will one be able to build payment applications on top of Libra. Some might focus on friends splitting the cost of dinner. Others might be focused on remittance payments to developing markets. In the most extremely successful version of Libra, it’s not so much a cryptocurrency, but a global operating system for moving fiat money around.<
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