Facebook recently entered the world of cryptocurrencies with its very own currency, Libra. This is ostensibly being done in order to facilitate commerce on the social media platform but according to Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, one of the people that first stated that Facebook should be broken up into its component parts, thinks that Libra might just be more dangerous than you would initially think.
One of the reasons why so many people are considering Libra to be a step in the right direction is because of the fact that it would be a decentralized currency, but the fact of the matter is that in reality this currency will not be decentralized and it would put too much power in the hands of Facebook. Global commerce would now be conducted through Facebook, and this would take power away from the central banks of developing nations.
One thing that digital citizens should understand is that most developing nations have a tendency to look into online commerce as a way to boost their own economies, but if all of the transactions are occurring by using a currency that is owned and operated by a social media platform then it would be quite unlikely that anyone would be able to find a way to make these currencies work in their own favor.
According to Hughes, international regulatory authorities will have to scrutinize Libra quite intensely if they want to be able to keep Facebook under control. Giving Facebook too much power could potentially end up causing a lot of problems in the long run, with problems surrounding Libra possibly putting too much control over the world’s economy in the hands of for profit organizations that act as corporations.
Photo: Shutterstock
Read next: Facebook's Calibra Wallet and Libra Cryptocurrency Services will not be available in Multiple Countries including India and China!
One of the reasons why so many people are considering Libra to be a step in the right direction is because of the fact that it would be a decentralized currency, but the fact of the matter is that in reality this currency will not be decentralized and it would put too much power in the hands of Facebook. Global commerce would now be conducted through Facebook, and this would take power away from the central banks of developing nations.
1. #Libra has a long way to go before being successful, but in theory, it's brilliant and frightening. At the start of the week, I thought the problem would be that it would reinforce Facebook's corporate power.— Chris Hughes (@chrishughes) June 21, 2019
One thing that digital citizens should understand is that most developing nations have a tendency to look into online commerce as a way to boost their own economies, but if all of the transactions are occurring by using a currency that is owned and operated by a social media platform then it would be quite unlikely that anyone would be able to find a way to make these currencies work in their own favor.
According to Hughes, international regulatory authorities will have to scrutinize Libra quite intensely if they want to be able to keep Facebook under control. Giving Facebook too much power could potentially end up causing a lot of problems in the long run, with problems surrounding Libra possibly putting too much control over the world’s economy in the hands of for profit organizations that act as corporations.
Photo: Shutterstock
Read next: Facebook's Calibra Wallet and Libra Cryptocurrency Services will not be available in Multiple Countries including India and China!
