Facebook Libra

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About

Libra is an upcoming cryptocurrency currently in development by Facebook set to be released sometime in 2020. Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, Libra will be backed by various financial assets.

History

On December 20th, 2018, the news site Bloomberg^[6] reported that Facebook was working on its own cryptocurrency, specifically for transferring money on WhatsApp.

On June 17th, 2019, the Libra Association YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "Introducing Libra," which promoted Libra as a "global currency" (shown below).

Meanwhile, a white paper was released on the site Libra.org,^[5] revealing 27 companies involved with the currency, including Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, Stripe, eBay, Lyft, Spotify and Uber.

Online Reactions

On June 14th, 2019, prior to the official announcement, Twitter user @SarahJamieLewis tweeted a joke reacting to rumors about the currency (shown below).

On June 18th, Jameson Lopp published a post on Medium analyzing a 26-page technical document titled "The Libra Blockchain."^[1] In the post, Lopp claims that the technology used for the currency "is not actually a blockchain" but rather a "set of signed ledger states." That day, the news site Bloomberg^[3] reported that French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called for regulation of Facebook, stating "This money will allow this company to assemble even more data, which only increases our determination to regulate the internet giants." Meanwhile, Gizmodo^[4] published an article about Libra titled "Facebook Announces Libra, Digital Currency on the Blockchain That Doesn't Actually Need to Be on the Blockchain."