FT’s Jemima Kelly thrashes Facebook’s “crypto” project

Is Libra even a cryptocurrency? Is it really using blockchain? Will it actually help “the unbanked”?

The verdict is in from the gang at FT Alphaville, and it’s not good.

Jemima Kelly categorically tears the whole thing to shreds…

Josh here –

Now here’s the funny part.  It might not matter. None of it. The crypto crowd is (at least for now) thrilled at any love it can get from legitimate business interests like Facebook because it validates all the stuff they’ve been saying all this time.

So what if Facebook is a singular issuer of the coins? So what if its not a true blockchain? So what if its highly centralized and permissioned only for gigantic corporations writing huge checks for the privilege of noding on the network?

And, most importantly, with the buy-in of these huge companies, it’s illegitimacy as a “true” crypto network may end up not mattering. If Facebook and its massive partners can get millions of people transacting in Libra, no one will give a f*** about the vagaries of its techno-bonafides.