“It should be as simple to send money with a smartphone send a photo,” said last April Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook. This could be the case from next year with Libra, a currency that is digital that will be launched during the first half of 2020. Facebook today published the “white paper” of this new cryptomonnaie which aims to serve as a currency of exchange between almost 2.3 billion users.
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what is the Libra?
Libra is the name of a new currency, a digital one, which should see the light of day during the first half of 2020. Initiated by Facebook, it will not be “the cryptomonnaie of Facebook,” but a currency of exchange-oriented and more broad, which can be used at once on different platforms and in different services which are offered by all the project partners, but also among traders who will be encouraged to propose it. “Our mission is to create a global currency, available to everyone in a simple way,” explains David Marcus, the head of the division dedicated to the blockchain, of Facebook. Its goal is to create a new global financial infrastructure, to facilitate and streamline the financial trade.
Why have you chosen to call this new currency the Libra?
the choice of The name Libra is both a reference to the book of roman, a unit of measurement of weight in the Roman empire. It is also the abbreviation for the british pound sterling (£) and the astrological sign of Libra, symbolizing fairness and justice.
Who will control the Libra?
This is not Facebook directly, but an independent foundation, consisting for now of 27 member states co-founders, including Facebook. Among them, mastodons financial such as Visa or Mastercard, Paypal, or the exchange platform cryptomonnaies CoinBase. Powerful platforms, such as Uber, Lyft, Booking, Spotify, eBay. The telecom operator Free, via its parent company Iliad, is also involved in the adventure. Less well-known here, there are also companies such as Women’s world banking, a non-profit organization that assists microfinance institutions or Mercy Corps, an NGO internatinonale humanitarian aid. The objective of Facebook is to reach a maximum of 100 member by the official launch of the currency, with the greatest diversity possible. This foundation Libra will be based in Geneva, Switzerland, and will be tasked to manage both the evolution of this new financial infrastructure, and the reservation will be backing the new currency.
That will be worth a Libra and who decide to create?
For that Libra can become a true currency of exchange and not as a tool for speculation like Bitcoin, it is necessary to ensure its stability. The choice has therefore been made of aligning a reserve, which will be comprised of a basket of financial assets real. In this basket, of currencies such as the dollar, the euro, the pound Sterling or the Yen, and possibly Treasury bonds. The parity should always stay from 1 Libra to 1 unit of this reserve. If the number of Libra requested increases, it will be necessary to both increase the reserve. It is not yet known how many Libra will be available at launch. But only the association shall have the right to create and destroy if need be.
What is the exact role of Facebook in the project?
Facebook provides the technology infrastructure, a new blockchain. that will work with a programming language Move and a method of consensus baptized Byzantine Fault Tolerant server. It is a blockchain closed, where only members with a commit node has access to the infrastructure. The project is built not on a framework blockchain public, such as Ethereum, or Bitcoin, to ensure that “millions of transactions per second” as the promises Facebook and have a consumption of “relatively conservative” energy. But the principle of blockchain closed the limit of a concept of “club of the rich” criticize some of the defenders of the principle of decentralization, the founder of the “real” cryptomonnaies. He still has several months of work to get there. “Today, we are at the prototype stage,” says David Marcus
Then, on this unique infrastructure and common, this new blockchain, will be added to different digital wallets, including the one of Facebook – known as Calibra – and those that will want to develop its member partners. The companies would retain control of what they develop. The project Libra is open-source, meaning that developers will be able to come and offer applications and services operating in Libra.
The rules of governance within the foundation are to define precisely, but Facebook will not have a casting vote and every voice of the members will have as much (every member will have a maximum of 1% of the voting rights, regardless of the starting amount invested). “A company can not control a network like that (…) We want to create a network of public utility” provides to Facebook. The association of Libra will have a board of directors and a director general to recruit.
Facebook will he be able to accumulate the data in its applications and data from users ‘ bank?
In theory, no. The objective claimed is to separate the financial data of social data, because the
A screenshot of what this might look like the digital wallet Calibra to its launch, to store and use the Libra. Facebook
priority is to create confidence for users, a necessary condition for the success of the project. Facebook Inc. , which operates Facebook, Instagram and messaging services WhatsApp, and Messenger, will not have access to financial data of Calibra, the digital wallet that will offer Facebook to store and use its Libra. Given the history of leaks, and uses of data repetition, the group and its partners will have a big job of teaching to get to convince the users.
And Facebook already foresees exceptions: “The limited cases in which these data can be shared will be related to the need for Facebook to ensure the safety of people, respect for the law and provide basic functionality to people using Calibra (…) and prevent criminal activities”.
Calibra will be launched in 2020 in Messenger, WhatsApp, and via a dedicated application. Its users will be able to transfer the money to the owner of a smartphone at little or no charge. The purpose for Calibra is then to propose financial services pay that will allow him to earn argent.
