Hell No you shouldn't buy it!! Let's not make the little faker richer!
And the beast gets bigger because we feed it. ...
Nick Douglas
Yesterday 9:49
On Tuesday Facebook announced Libra, a cryptocurrency that it will launch (along with 27 other partners) in 2020. A little like Bitcoin and a little like PayPal, Libra will be a new digital currency, one available to people without bank accounts or credit cards, but that could potentially be a major force for the rest of us, too. But first you have to trust Facebook with yet more personal data. Here’s what you need to know.
How does it work?
Libra is an upcoming digital currency that users can access through apps and use to pay for things or to send money to each other. In that way it’s a lot like PayPal and Venmo.
But unlike PayPal and Venmo, Libra is largely aimed at people without bank accounts. (See “Why would I want to use it?” below.)
Unlike Bitcoin, Libra’s value is tied to government-issued currency like the dollar [...] This isn’t a coin that you buy because you think it will grow 100 times as valuable. It’s more like exchanging a dollar for a Euro.
To keep and exchange Libra, you’ll need to use a “wallet”: an app that might be integrated into existing apps, the way PayPal or Apple Pay is integrated into other apps. The current plan is to let many developers make their own wallets.
Unlike Bitcoin, Libra’s value is tied to government-issued currency like the dollar—specifically to “a market-value basket of several trusted currencies,” says Wired. That’s one of several ways that Libra will try to avoid the weird, scammy, gambling vibe of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This isn’t a coin that you buy because you think it will grow 100 times as valuable. It’s more like exchanging a dollar for a Euro.
You don’t need to know this next part, but it has some consequences that we’ll explain later. On the backend, Libra handles transactions with a blockchain, kind of like Bitcoin. A blockchain is a distributed record of transactions that records who owns how much of a coin, and who transferred what coin to whom. But while Bitcoin’s blockchain is distributed among everyone who uses it, Libra’s blockchain is managed by the Libra Association. (See “Who controls it?” below.)
When is it coming?
The Libra Association plans to launch the coin some time in 2020. It will immediately be available on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and through several other Libra partners.
Will I have to use it?
Not yet. Maybe not ever. The answer will probably lie between your answers to “Do you need Venmo?” and “Do you need a credit card?”
How long did people know about this?
Facebook started working on Libra in early 2018, according to Wired’s history of the coin. Some details about the coin leaked in 2018, but most were unclear until Facebook launched a website and white paper yesterday.
Who made it?
The new coin and its underlying code are controlled by the Libra Association, a 28-partner consortium of companies and foundations, but Facebook is the driving force.
Founding partners include eBay, PayPal, Vodafone, Spotify, several investment firms and cryptocurrency companies, and a few non-profits. Each partner gets a vote on group decisions. Each partner invested at least $10 million, partly to build a reserve of fiat currency (that is, regular dollars) to exchange for Libra.
Facebook is one partner. Calibra, its wholly owned spinoff company, is another. The association hopes to add more partners over time, to further decentralize the currency and lower their own control over it—while also building faith in the currency as something bigger and “realer” than Flooz or airline miles or Disney Dollars.
And the beast gets bigger because we feed it. ...
Nick Douglas
Yesterday 9:49
On Tuesday Facebook announced Libra, a cryptocurrency that it will launch (along with 27 other partners) in 2020. A little like Bitcoin and a little like PayPal, Libra will be a new digital currency, one available to people without bank accounts or credit cards, but that could potentially be a major force for the rest of us, too. But first you have to trust Facebook with yet more personal data. Here’s what you need to know.
How does it work?
Libra is an upcoming digital currency that users can access through apps and use to pay for things or to send money to each other. In that way it’s a lot like PayPal and Venmo.
But unlike PayPal and Venmo, Libra is largely aimed at people without bank accounts. (See “Why would I want to use it?” below.)
Unlike Bitcoin, Libra’s value is tied to government-issued currency like the dollar [...] This isn’t a coin that you buy because you think it will grow 100 times as valuable. It’s more like exchanging a dollar for a Euro.
To keep and exchange Libra, you’ll need to use a “wallet”: an app that might be integrated into existing apps, the way PayPal or Apple Pay is integrated into other apps. The current plan is to let many developers make their own wallets.
Unlike Bitcoin, Libra’s value is tied to government-issued currency like the dollar—specifically to “a market-value basket of several trusted currencies,” says Wired. That’s one of several ways that Libra will try to avoid the weird, scammy, gambling vibe of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This isn’t a coin that you buy because you think it will grow 100 times as valuable. It’s more like exchanging a dollar for a Euro.
You don’t need to know this next part, but it has some consequences that we’ll explain later. On the backend, Libra handles transactions with a blockchain, kind of like Bitcoin. A blockchain is a distributed record of transactions that records who owns how much of a coin, and who transferred what coin to whom. But while Bitcoin’s blockchain is distributed among everyone who uses it, Libra’s blockchain is managed by the Libra Association. (See “Who controls it?” below.)
When is it coming?
The Libra Association plans to launch the coin some time in 2020. It will immediately be available on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and through several other Libra partners.
Will I have to use it?
Not yet. Maybe not ever. The answer will probably lie between your answers to “Do you need Venmo?” and “Do you need a credit card?”
How long did people know about this?
Facebook started working on Libra in early 2018, according to Wired’s history of the coin. Some details about the coin leaked in 2018, but most were unclear until Facebook launched a website and white paper yesterday.
Who made it?
The new coin and its underlying code are controlled by the Libra Association, a 28-partner consortium of companies and foundations, but Facebook is the driving force.
Founding partners include eBay, PayPal, Vodafone, Spotify, several investment firms and cryptocurrency companies, and a few non-profits. Each partner gets a vote on group decisions. Each partner invested at least $10 million, partly to build a reserve of fiat currency (that is, regular dollars) to exchange for Libra.
Facebook is one partner. Calibra, its wholly owned spinoff company, is another. The association hopes to add more partners over time, to further decentralize the currency and lower their own control over it—while also building faith in the currency as something bigger and “realer” than Flooz or airline miles or Disney Dollars.
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