One of the heated topics in the cryptocurrency, regulatory, and the fintech space has been Facebook’s footprint in the digital asset ecosystem with the unveiling of Libra. This venture is viewed as a positive sign for the growth of the cryptocurrency market altogether by some, whereas criticized by many.
The criticism was not much of a surprise considering the social media’s past with handling users’ privacy, particularly its ‘involvement’ in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The entire fiasco had garnered so much attention that there was a Congressional hearing on Libra.
One of the speakers during the hearing was Meltem Demirors, CSO of Coinshares, and the topic discussed by her was about Bitcoin and how Libra was different from the king coin. Demirors asserted that Facebook’s digital asset was “not a cryptocurrency,” further reasoning by stating that Libra was “centralized,” “pooled by assets,” and permissioned. She also highlighted that the currency put forth only benefited “Facebook.” She said,
“Libra may represent an exciting opportunity for Bitcoin but it cannot and should not be compared to Bitcoin. Like the internet, it is critical that Bitcoin remains open for permissionless innovation”
She further stated,
“I urge you to view Bitcoin as open public networks that enable innovation and growth and to treat Libra and its future imitators […] in the context of the facts private efforts led by corporations holding billions of dollars of the public’s money. These things are not Bitcoin and are not cryptocurrencies”
Demirors once again opined on Libra, this time around, about the effect it would have on the development of cryptocurrencies if it gets launched, in an interview for Unchained Podcast. Demirors had a positive outlook on Libra’s future, stating that “it will launch,” adding that it would be “interesting to how and where and what the response is.” Nevertheless, she continued to state that Facebook’s Libra was “not directly related to what’s happening in crypto.”
During the interview, she said,
“[…] you were calling 2016-2017 the narrative was blockchain, not Bitcoin and I feel like in 2019, 2020 the narrative is digital assets, not digital currencies.Libra, it’s definitely exciting […] companies getting more comfortable with the space and with these ideas through things like Libra, but I think it’s a few steps removed from what this industry and what this social movement is all about.”
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