Topic: The Central Bank of Facebook (Read 6438 times)

That's certainly true, mate. It's the usual behavior of governments worldwide, as they don't want an alternative currency taking over the world. Their main intent is to keep control of their citizens whatever the cost may be. In the case of Libra vs the US, I believe that the government is afraid that Facebook's infamous cryptocurrency will take over the USD. We've seen President Trump's comments recently where he said some negative comments about Libra, while praising the USD in every way.

Even if Libra doesn't become a reality anytime soon, the US government will surely devise a digital currency of its own. That would be a modernized version of the USD, with its very own Blockchain ledger controlled the central Bank in the US (in this case, the Federal Reserve). This would be preferable over Facebook's cryptocurrency which has the intent of violating people's privacy in every way. Despite what people think about Libra and crypto in general, it's the way of the future and we cannot ignore it.

Nonetheless, the odds of Facebook becoming a central Bank in the future, are zero to none. This is widely because, regulators have become too fierce against Libra's launch with the aim of destroying the project altogether. Successful or not, at least we have decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum which are more than sufficient for our daily transactions without middleman. Just my thoughts

I think that soon the passions around the appearance of the scales will calm down, since such an ambitious Facebook project will remain unrealized. Against the appearance of the Libra coin, the G-7 countries were very tough and I think that this is already enough to prevent such a project from happening. Even Facebook already doubted whether they would succeed or not. And this is actually their surrender.
However, something similar to the Libra coin may later be released in China. This state is less dependent on the United States and other world states. Therefore, the events surrounding the idea of ​​issuing such a stable coin will continue.

Well, I have seen some news around about G7 discussion disapproving the use of Libra and seeing it as a global threat and this may be the reason why Facebook too announced that they might not succeed in launching the project too, if the source of news where I read it was true because I don’t rely on Facebook official statement again, it has been long that people started talking about Facebook Libra coin which I never believe because Facebook did not make any official statement, only for me to see their statement about it at the dying time.

So, I believe there is still element of truth in this and Facebook might have been advised to halt the project and I would not be surprised if we don’t hear anything about the project again.

Unfortunately this challenge by a simple process of alternatives in an economy isnt a new problem for governments.   I think the measures previously used are called Capital controls which is to restrict your own population from its choice of currency.
   We do not live in a time of capitalism, I've been saying this many years.   We retain democracy for now but we have effectively lost capitalism when the central bank looms over so largely on the value of every note of value held and exchanged in the country.

It means all are a threat even when they have no intention to be, Libra by not backing the US dollar has stepped outside the shadows cast by the central banks that might allow it to continue unopposed.   Zuckerman does not realise by establishing his own basket of currencies in his arrangement he could unbalance the capital flows of countries quite vulnerable to devaluation.
    It doesnt take alot to do this to a country with 10's of thousands in debt for every citizen and long standing trade deficits, Sterling is currently feeling the steady loss of value from markets favouring currency alternatives with less risk then its politics has for this year.

This article basically underlines the problem, Japan is quite favourable to BTC so its quite a contrast. -
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-facebook-libra/former-japan-central-banker-warns-facebooks-libra-may-undermine-monetary-policy-idUKKCN1US0SK

But are they not allowing Libra to be launch? I think they haven't said something like that and they also didn't say about that threat.
AFAIK, all they mentioned is just in relation to regulation and they want Libra to complied with the strict regulation so they can monitor this project properly and that's their job, imagine the risk if they can't monitor it, Libra might attract billions of users world wide and illegal activities could be rampant without a strict policies impose on them.

Unfortunately, the US government do not see it that way, they have their own perception and judgement based on their constitution and framework and they see Facebook's Libra coin as a big threat to the banking industry and the strength of the dollar, they do not want interruption and they do not want a new financial power coming in to challenge them.

Facebook itself wont be a central bank but by holding a basket of currencies and addressing a population of billions it will highlight the already standing differences between central bank standards throughout the world.   This Libra might encourage the greater flow of currency from weaker currency into the more strongly defended currencies that have less inflation.    Obviously anyone in Venezuela would immediately be better off siding with such an arrangement but also its true for some of the largest countries in the world, Libra could become the safe preference for free cash.

Something recently around the new Facebook project has flared up quite a lot of scandals and therefore today there is a good chance that this project will not be implemented.  I think that the special services and the US government have succeeded in imposing a moratorium on the implementation of the Libra.  Someone may not like my opinion, but I would not want all my personal data, including information about balances and transactions to belong to Facebook.

Facebook doesn't seem to release its Libra coin. The United States and other G7 countries simply will not allow this and will legislatively prohibit its use on its territory. It is no coincidence that Visa has already refused to cooperate with Facebook regarding this coin. Anyway, Facebook will be very difficult right now. I think they themselves will eventually abandon this project.

Good point. Existent payment processors are too powerful to come down anytime soon. They might as well adopt Blockchain technology in its entirety than doing anything about it while other alternatives take the lead in mainstream payments. Be aware though, that if traditional payment processors like PayPal, MoneyGram, and Western Union adopt Blockchain technology, then the competition will be fierce against Libra. By then, it would only be a matter of which payment processor provides the lowest fees and the fastest transactions possible.

As for Libra, its future will greatly depend on how many people use it, and how governments are willing to let it survive within the mainstream world. Facebook's ambitions of becoming the world's the next-generation central bank is not surprising at all, especially since it's been a threat towards people's privacy. The newly-issued digital currency would serve as a surveillance tool for Facebook, as it'll be able to keep track of people's transactions with ease. Facebook will quickly report those transactions to the government, whenever it sees anything unusual within its Blockchain ledger.

Which is why, I believe that it's best for Libra to never become adopted by people within the mainstream world in order to prevent another scandal like the one happened with "Cambridge Analytica". Even if it becomes popular, it might benefit the crypto industry in many ways. The success of Libra's launch would lead other people to look for other alternatives as well. Once this happens, decentralized cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum would gain massive traction within the mainstream world.

Nonetheless, Facebook is going to have a hard time with governments and central Banks worldwide. It would seem rather impossible to comply with regulations on different countries worldwide. Such entities would battle their way towards non-stop power by reducing Libra's influence within the mainstream world. Hence, only decentralized cryptocurrencies will prevail in the long run. Just my thoughts

Facebook can never replace those companies that you mentioned, don’t also forget that the establishment of those companies has also increase the financial base of government and also better the economy of the country where they operate, do not first forget that those countries will first not do without given it a fight, and if it is blockchain technology that Facebook want to use to suppress them, they will simply just go on blockchain technology also.

These guys are strong competitors, and they are ever ready to face any competitors that may want to double cross them and even with the help of the government, Facebook will find it very difficult to send them packing because of its own system. Don’t ever expect government worldwide to ever approve it.

They can't just do whatever they want, they are guided by the law and therefore they need to seek approval first before they can implement what they like.
Libra has to pass with a lot of regulatory requirements before it will be launch and might take time.

Ha ha!  Exactly how these things work!

What we should aim to achieve is not necessary something that will help Bitcoin.  We should try to arrive at the truth, whatever the consequences may be.  If the truth comes out, eventually, if not immediately, it should always help things like Bitcoin.

I guess we never know for sure, but we can guess that it'll be the same as all the Western elites who benefited from issuing money and debt:

- Issue some claim to value which costs very little to produce in itself.
- It works better and for longer if your token can or will buy things that people really want.
- Use whatever power you have to prop up the value of your token: have the media write stories, start wars to force 3rd world countries to do what you want, whatever it takes.
- Keep issuing and strongly denying any instability as long as possible.
- Diversify or get out of that token yourself before it's too late.
- When at the end of your rope, devalue your token, enough to regain stability.
- Start the cycle all over.

Agreed.  Please don't misunderstand my words 'creating money out of thin air.'  (See below.)

Absolutely, the money issued will be backed by real value created in the economy.  Isn't this the same as fiat money everywhere today?  When engineers create something good in the lab, the central bank can issue new money without causing inflation, since there will be extra activity (growth) that provides legitimate demand for the new money.  And AFAIK Facebook has a very good lab.

It is the same for Facebook as everywhere else in the modern world.

The problem comes from the incentives built into this kind of money system.  Since the issuers of the money or debt, politicians, bankers and central bankers, have the incentives to keep issuing new money and debt regardless of economic growth, and have a lot of power to temporarily prop up the value of any new money issued above the growth, human nature says that, eventually, the system becomes unstable.  (If you see how well the long-term price of gold in dollars has done, you have the historical data for this argument as well.)

So, my definition of 'out of thin air' (and I apologize for not making it clear at the beginning) is: any issuance of money that is not backed by 100% reserves of another money.  (Now the 'other' money might itself be issued out of thin air, but that's not a problem for our issuer.)  If Libra would like us to believe it is 100% backed by national-currency reserves, don't believe it.

There's a high probability that Libra might replace MoneyGram, Western Union, and several other traditional payment processors within the future, upon its successful launch within the mainstream world. This is because Libra will obtain Blockchain's benefits of high efficiency and extremely low costs for transactions. Since neither MoneyGram nor Western Union are using Blockchain technology, Libra will prove to be a superior system for mainstream payments.

Even if Facebook plans to "wiretap" Libra's transactions across the Blockchain, it'll still be a popular choice for people within the mainstream world. We've seen how many people don't care about their privacy, despite Facebook's latest scandals with its social network platform. Most people in the mainstream world are just looking for convenience, and ease of use. Considering that Libra will be a stablecoin pegged to the value of $1 USD, it has all the odds of becoming easily accepted by average people instead of decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Nonetheless, Libra is still fighting its way towards launch by next year. If governments worldwide approve it, then there should be nothing stopping Facebook from becoming the world's next-generation central bank. After that, traditional banks may see their existence threatened by Libra unless they fully adopt Blockchain tech for their own benefit. In the end, Libra may be the USD's successor while it'll co-exist with decentralized cryptocurrencies for a long time. Just my thoughts

Whatever Facebook does is their own right and that is a reality we must accept.
but for me what is done by Facebook is ripples that will eventually get used to, whether it will be accepted or not by the general public. at least it can enliven the technological developments that occur.

I think you are correct. Indeed, if for some reason Facebook as a lead partner or with someone else in the lead partnership they are never allowed to make their own crypto, well, IMHO,

all Facebook would have to do is BUY Bitpay for say what 100 billion USD? Thus, bingo bango...they got their crypto they can data mine users about use and shopping of such,

which is the real reason for crypto, that data for ads, etc. Can't really beat up Facebook for using a service that has been in play for what 10 years?

This very well could be their backup position.

So the reason for their own crypto is they wanted complete control, but nothing I think could stop them from being just

another vendor or Bitpay and/or owner.

Anyway, my 'meandering' view of this topic. Not that I know squat.

Brad

Trump too never supported it, and I think so many people have responded to it negatively, I think the issue with this Libra coin is that it created a system that would connect world financially, which may make the world’s finance to be under his control, because if you look at it, it is assumed that he wants to create a global currency, and if you look at the world global, it seems like trying to encompass the whole continent of the world, and how can the world submit to Facebook.

I know that the CEO is rich, but it would be a shame to the world leader if they also allow him to use his money to control them, their citizens and the world at large in the financial system. Well, with time, we will see exactly what Facebook coin intends to do when it is being released.