Facebook and several other billion-dollar corporations that are part of the Libra Association, including Lyft, Uber, Visa, and more, are introducing a new cryptocurrency in 2020—Libra. The announcement was met with criticism and significant questions from government officials and regulators. Here's what you need to know.

1. Facebook’s
Cryptocurrency Libra:
Everything You Need To Know
Blockchain-Based

2. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Title
Text
IntroductionIntroduction
There will be a new cryptocurrency available in 2020—Libra. Although it is
backed by several Silicon Valley and mega-companies that make up the Libra
Association, Facebook is clearly the leader driving the currency’s adoption.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Facebook's Blockchain-Based Cryptocurrency
Libra:
Everything You Need to Know

3. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
What Is a Cryptocurrency?
Although there are variations of virtual currency called cryptocurrency, the one most
people have heard about before is Bitcoin. They are all based on the concept of
blockchain. A blockchain is a distributed computer file that can be read by people across
many computers. There is not one entity with control over the file. Blockchains contain
encoded information that can't be changed unless a user has a key that corresponds to
the "block" in the chain they want to update. These changes get replicated across the
chain. Blockchains are highly secure and publicly viewable. Cryptocurrency is a currency
that uses a mathematical blockchain to track exchanges and value, rather than a central
bank.

4. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
About Libra
Facebook announced Libra on June 18, 2019. A Swiss group called the Libra Association
will govern Libra and currently includes 28 member companies, including Facebook,
MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, Lyft, Uber, and Spotify, and plans to have 100 companies on
board in 2020 when Libra is expected to launch.
According to the 26-page technical white paper released to describe how Libra will work,
it will run on a blockchain. However, it's important to note; Libra diverges from a
traditional blockchain in a couple of ways.
• A traditional blockchain is decentralised. Libra is not decentralised in the way that
Bitcoin is since Libra’s nodes (independent computers that process and verify a
blockchain) will only be run from the servers of Libra Association’s 28 current members.
In response to critics who question the fact that Libra isn’t fully decentralised, Facebook
said that Libra can’t be fully decentralised if it’s to create a “global financial
infrastructure.” The goal is to have Libra be capable of handling 1,000 transactions per
second; Bitcoin can only process seven transactions per second, but Visa's payment
network can support 24,000 a second.

5. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
About Libra
• Libra is also being designed as a “stablecoin.” The value of Libra units in circulation will
be tied to assets made up of various currencies stored by the Libra Association. This is
to minimize the traditional volatility of cryptocurrency. In a letter Facebook sent to
Fabio De Masi, a German politician, Libra will be backed by the U.S. dollar (50 percent),
euro (18 percent), Japanese yen (14 percent), British pound (11 percent) and Singapore
dollar (7 percent). Interestingly, the currency of the world's second-largest economy,
the Chinese yuan, is absent. There are pros and cons to the yuan not being included,
but some believe its omission could help assuage concerns of American regulators.

6. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How World Leaders are Reacting to Libra
Since Facebook announced Libra, it’s faced criticism. Regulators and policymakers around
the world are concerned about Libra’s impact on financial stability. The EU launched an
investigation of the Libra Association on antitrust issues. In the United States, lawmakers
are pressing Facebook for a moratorium on the project until all issues can be analysed and
understood. Due to this and other concerns, it’s being reported that some of the original
supporters of Libra are backing out.
In France, Bruno Le Maire, the French Economy, and Finance Minister stated that they
could not "authorise the development of Libra on European soil” due to the threat to
monetary sovereignty.
Some world financial leaders have expressed concern that Libra threatens the financial
stability of nations. Facebook refutes these claims while pointing to the “stablecoin” aspect
of Libra and the reserve of currencies that backs it up.
A Libra spokesperson told The Independent: "We welcome this scrutiny and have
deliberately designed a long launch runway to have these conversations, educate
stakeholders, and incorporate their feedback in our design.”

7. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How World Leaders are Reacting to Libra
There’s certainly a revolution underway in payment technology from China’s Alipay to
Facebook’s Libra. Since finance is a critical part of the world’s infrastructure and a crisis in
one market can ripple across the world, it behoves governments and regulators to
critically assess new technology that’s untethered from traditional control systems. Not
only does a new global financial system need to be safeguarded from breaches and
transparent to officials, but it also must not succumb to whims that would only benefit a
few. That’s why there are significant questions that need to be answered to fully
understand the implications prior to the launch of Libra in 2020.

8. © 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website
© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website

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