There's a bunch of problems in current banking system, and unfriendly user interfaces, obscure rules with many gotchas and transaction times are some of them. However, to think that I will trust Facebook more with my money than I trust my bank is, on the current stage, I think plain insane.
Also, does using Facebook currency for paying your bills means if you get in trouble with Facebook (which anybody now could by posting a wrong joke, having wrong political ideas or upsetting wrong people) you can not pay them anymore? Would Facebook control the transaction processing (i.e. via Messenger or otherwise)? If yes, then definitely not with a ten foot pole.
In Sweden I think the bank system have really stepped up with their apps and our transfer times are pretty fast. We also have things like Swish, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swish_(payment) , which is great as well.
> does using Facebook currency for paying your bills means if you get in trouble with Facebook (which anybody now could by posting a wrong joke
Their official site says Libra has been set up as a subsidiary of Facebook and that it has it's own privacy policy, ToS, etc so I think there is some degree of separation there (not that I'd necessarily take FB at their word when it comes to this kind of thing).
Let's say something like Libra gets adopted worldwide. Let's say there's a huge financial crash at some point in the future, with lots of currencies, including some in the Libra basket (the stuff pegging it to the real world), going off the rails.
What would Libra's powers-that-be do then? They can tweak the parameters of their system any way they like. They could throw any currency out of the basket. Or do whatever they like.
Many of the gotchas and pain points are caused by regulatory factors (which I would add may be heavy handed or painfully implemented but are usually there for good and important reasons). Facebook or any alternative payment system will hit these same pain points once they reach a scale that matters.
There is something better than your bank. My bank sir sure. I’ve been using Revolut to transfer some money between borders and I did save couple of £k thanks to it. It’s really not difficult to be cheaper than “your bank”.
Alright, this is just a prepaid access system built on top of crypto. I strongly believe the need for a prepaid access system to lower transaction fees for moving money digitally, but the companies backing this are some of the most vile. This consortium are never going to do anything in the users' interest. If they're making bank on interest from deposits, that's never going to flow back.
As well, all these companies (sellers of prepaid access) are going to need to be registered as Money Service Businesses (MSB) in the US. That puts them under all the AML/KYC laws. So we don't even get our libertarian wet dream of money without the red tape. We'll see what their privacy protections look like.
I want this technology to exist. I would rather pay 5 cents per news article I read than being prompted for a 10 dollar per month subscription. However, I want this to fail miserably due an extreme lack of faith in the companies behind it. All these companies will fight for regulation that cements their position and prevents others from entering the market.
Tons of companies print their own money. It's just called "miles", "points", "coupons", "credits", etc. - but it is a medium of exchange that can be used to buy stuff at this company, i.e. money. Of course, airline workers would never agree to be paid entirely in miles, but probably would not mind getting their hands on some more of them.
All of these cryptocurrency experiments eventually point out the reason centralized banks were invented in the first place. Usually through major thefts and loss of assets.
> All of these cryptocurrency experiments eventually point out the reason centralized banks were invented in the first place. Usually through major thefts and loss of assets.
Yeah. Central banks are actually a kind of technology, which I don't think a lot of people recognize.
But even with software and silicon technology, lots of people are hasty to throw out the old without really understanding it, so they can build something "new." It's seems even harder to get such people to recognize value of technologies that aren't made from computers.
People incorrectly assume their money can't be stolen from a bank via hacking or wire fraud.
The only thing you get from having your money in a bank account is government-mandated insurance, that covers you only up to a point. I think as crypto ecosystem matures, similar services will be offered there too.
[+] [-] smsm42|6 years ago|reply
Also, does using Facebook currency for paying your bills means if you get in trouble with Facebook (which anybody now could by posting a wrong joke, having wrong political ideas or upsetting wrong people) you can not pay them anymore? Would Facebook control the transaction processing (i.e. via Messenger or otherwise)? If yes, then definitely not with a ten foot pole.
[+] [-] ilaksh|6 years ago|reply
These are the sworn enemies of cryptocurrency and privacy.
They are trying to cash in on the hype and supplant real cryptocurrency with their own mechanism of control and profit.
[+] [-] cc81|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] UncleMeat|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nacs|6 years ago|reply
Their official site says Libra has been set up as a subsidiary of Facebook and that it has it's own privacy policy, ToS, etc so I think there is some degree of separation there (not that I'd necessarily take FB at their word when it comes to this kind of thing).
[+] [-] Florin_Andrei|6 years ago|reply
Let's say something like Libra gets adopted worldwide. Let's say there's a huge financial crash at some point in the future, with lots of currencies, including some in the Libra basket (the stuff pegging it to the real world), going off the rails.
What would Libra's powers-that-be do then? They can tweak the parameters of their system any way they like. They could throw any currency out of the basket. Or do whatever they like.
[+] [-] jshaqaw|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mirekrusin|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] momentmaker|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] carom|6 years ago|reply
As well, all these companies (sellers of prepaid access) are going to need to be registered as Money Service Businesses (MSB) in the US. That puts them under all the AML/KYC laws. So we don't even get our libertarian wet dream of money without the red tape. We'll see what their privacy protections look like.
I want this technology to exist. I would rather pay 5 cents per news article I read than being prompted for a 10 dollar per month subscription. However, I want this to fail miserably due an extreme lack of faith in the companies behind it. All these companies will fight for regulation that cements their position and prevents others from entering the market.
[+] [-] stillbourne|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] smsm42|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] creaghpatr|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] swebs|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Rebelgecko|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dade_|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] esoterica|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lostmymind66|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CharlesColeman|6 years ago|reply
Yeah. Central banks are actually a kind of technology, which I don't think a lot of people recognize.
But even with software and silicon technology, lots of people are hasty to throw out the old without really understanding it, so they can build something "new." It's seems even harder to get such people to recognize value of technologies that aren't made from computers.
[+] [-] lostmsu|6 years ago|reply
The only thing you get from having your money in a bank account is government-mandated insurance, that covers you only up to a point. I think as crypto ecosystem matures, similar services will be offered there too.
[+] [-] velcrovan|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ilaksh|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] itsaidpens|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] GrumpyNl|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] elwell|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thestartup|6 years ago|reply