Libra Dilutes Coin Plan

Libra just revised its white paper on its stablecoin offering. What are the changes and will it finally get launched?. The Facebook-led stablecoin that is the Libra released a revision to its white paper revealing a much watered down offering from its initial plan stated in June of last year. First, the Libra will start by issuing several coins, each backed by one major fiat denomination, e.g., LibraUSD, LibraYEN, LibraGBP, etc. There will still be a composite Libra comprised of a basket of the underlying Libra coins and other assets for making cross-border payments.. Facebook wanted to send a clear message that the consortium wants to avoid any potential threats to central banks and regulators. I contacted the staffers from Reps. Sylvia Garcia and Maxine Waters, House Banking Committee member and Chairwoman respectively on their position of the updated Libra proposal and would be interested. However, when I contacted some of my former colleagues at the Fed, their opinion is that while they were not vehemently opposed to the Libra’s proposal, they viewed the coin’s potential as nothing more than a privatized central bank digital currency (CBDC).. On the other camp, the Bitcoin pundits hammer the point that it will never replace BTC because the Libra will be on a permissioned network, unlike the BTC. But the Libra was never meant to challenge BTC in that idealized, libertarian, monetary space anyway. Instead, Facebook wanted to control payment, keep money in its ecosystem, project a monetary powerplay, and depending on whether or not you believe that Facebook has turned over a new leaf from its Cambridge Analytica scandal to data mine its users spending patterns. As it is, even with the diluted offering, it is by no means that the Libra will sail through and be released, especially in 2020, as memories of the Cambridge Analytica scandal are still fresh in the minds of a divided electorate.. Another interesting area to follow is the Bank of China CBDC, which some say was a rushed response to counter and compete against the Libra before it has any chance of making solid inroads. Currently, it is in testing as since both would be centralized, the two offerings would be more in contention with each other, and be predominantly as a payment vehicle than BTC, which still has barely made a dent in merchant payments — estimates are about $4B in 2019.. Anyway, it is interesting to always hear about the Libra as it’s been a while. It will be interesting to hear what Reps. Garcia, and Waters positions. I do not believe Libra will launch in 2020, or if ever, but it’s still good to see Facebook throwing the down the gauntlet and seeing the response of the central banks and regulators.. The Capital. https://medium.com/media/3b6b127891c5c8711ad105e61d6cc81f/hrefLibra Dilutes Coin Planwas originally published in The Capitalon Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story..

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