Introduction
There are very few things, which Facebook’s Founder Mark Zuckerberg has been unsuccessful in his brief lifetime. From taking Facebook to meteoric heights to successfully negotiating billion-dollar takeovers of anything he considered as his rival, the tech tycoon has done it all.
While many applaud the vision of Facebook’s Founder, others state that he is as hardcore a businessman as you will ever see. Take the example of Instagram, a social media platform Zuckerberg acquired in 2012 for a billion dollars. As you are reading this article, Instagram has been valued at close to a hundred billion dollars!
So, when Mark Zuckerberg decided to make his foray into digital currencies (more on the lines of Stable Coins and not Bitcoin), the world stood up and took notice.
Facebook’s Libra: What was it all about
Libra was announced in an emphatic fashion in June 2019 following months of extensive negotiations with the heavyweights in the tech and financial worlds.
The biggest names came to be established as Trust Holders in a Libra Association. Sort of like a Governing Body of the new digital currency. You had everyone from Visa to PayPal, MasterCard, eBay, Stripe, and others.
However, the initial promise soon turned into disappointments. One after the other, almost all the founding members of the Libra Association dropped out of the project.
The CEO of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, in a rather public press conference, stated that Libra is a good little idea, which is never going to see the light of day!
Libra aimed to use physical reserves and back them as a support for the circulation of digital currencies. All the founding Libra Association members were expected to pump in a hundred million dollars each as a form of security to the physical reserve.
Libra was aimed to de devoid of all the negatives, which were characteristic of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. However, on the contrary, it aimed to provide all the benefits- global borderless transactions, no commission fees, easy financial inclusion, etc.
What is next for Facebook’s Libra?
There is no doubt that Facebook and Zuckerberg are not going to take this rejection from the big names lightly. In fact, Facebook announced that more than 1500 credible institutions want to be part of the Libra Association.
However, pulling out of major names like Visa and MasterCard has given a serious blow to the credibility of the entire exercise. Many people who are not willing to comment on record point to Zuckerberg’s overriding influence in all aspects of Facebook, Libra, and its payment services Calibra.
With Facebook facing Anti-Trust Lawsuits in different countries of the world, the company has come under the scanner for multiple allegations. At such a point, many businesses simply feel that even if it’s good business, there is too much to risk in terms of bad publicity.
In the meanwhile, Facebook is experimenting with digital payments with Facebook Pay and WhatsApp Pay. According to many experts, it skipped a stage and this was something, which should have been excelled at before the announcement of Libra.
Can Libra emerge as a Challenge to Bitcoin?
The correct answer to that question in the near future is No! However, there is no denying the fact that if anyone will be able to successfully off a digital currency in the world, it is going to be Zuckerberg and Facebook.
Bitcoin is raising the bar when it comes to cryptocurrencies and digital currencies. The recent performances are drawing institutional investors to the fold. With investors are clamoring for the https://bitcoin-billionaire.com/, there is no denying that Bitcoin will continue rising to higher valuations.
With the focus shifting on WhatsApp Pay, Facebook is trying to explore where it went wrong with Libra. Probably it should have gone along, rather than build consensus in the highly competitive tech industry.
The Final Word
The White Paper on Libra was one of the most well-written financial documents ever written. The promise of financial inclusivity for more than 1.7 billion unbanked people in the world is not only a social good but can hold tremendous profitable opportunities for Facebook and Libra in the future.
Recent Comments