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Perspective: There’s a Lot We Still Don’t Know About Libra
Last month, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg spent over five grueling hours answering myriad questions from the members of the House Financial Services Committee on issues like election interference, hate speech, censorship and discriminatory advertising. While it was an important reminder of the many dangers that Facebook already presents to our society, we didn’t actually learn much about the hearing’s ostensible topic: Facebook’s audacious plan to create an association of big businesses to issue a new digital currency called Libra.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- cryptocurrency, Facebook, fintech
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A Devil’s Bargain to Bank the Unbanked: Why Financial Inclusion Advocates Shouldn’t Trust Facebook’s Libra
As you've likely heard, Facebook has entered the inclusive finance arena, pitching Libra, a global cryptocurrency – ostensibly to promote financial inclusion. But as Digital Equity co-founder Valerie Khan argues, there are plenty of reasons to doubt Facebook's intentions and Libra's “social good” marketing campaign. In fact, she says, "Facebook is not being transparent about its real interest in Libra" – and both financial inclusion advocates and emerging countries should beware.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Viewpoint: The Upside to Facebook’s Libra Disaster
If Facebook really wants to bring financial services to the “unbanked,” it should try doing it on a smaller scale than these companies’ presence promised. And even then, the probability of failure will be high.
- Categories
- Finance
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For Non-Profits Working With Facebook, Libra Isn’t Such a Crazy Idea
Were these do-gooding organizations brought on as mere window-dressing? Women’s World Banking and Mercy Corps tell CoinDesk they won’t stick around if their missions aren’t served by Libra.
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PayPal Is the First Company to Drop out of the Facebook-Led Libra Association
“PayPal has made the decision to forgo further participation in the Libra Association at this time and to continue to focus on advancing our existing mission and business priorities as we strive to democratize access to financial services for underserved populations,” PayPal said in an emailed statement to TechCrunch.
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- Finance
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Viewpoint: Libra Is an Opportunity to Leapfrog Chinese Fintech to Achieve Cashless Economy
Penetration into offshore markets could accomplish a long-coveted Communist Party goal — replacing the international prominence of the dollar with a yuan-based alternative. If widely adopted, Libra — whose backers include Visa, Mastercard and Paypal — could shut those doors forever.
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- Finance
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The Group Overseeing Facebook’s Libra Cryptocurrency Will Apply for a Payments License in Switzerland
The Libra Association, the organization in charge of overseeing Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency, said Wednesday it will apply for a payments license in Switzerland.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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Viewpoint: Libra’s Top-Down Model Doesn’t Match Its Financial Inclusion Mission
Though the use of Libra to pay for a Spotify subscription, an outfit on Farfetch, or a holiday on Booking.com is certainly an on-ramp for mainstream adoption, the appeal and necessity of such services to the underbanked, as part of the currency’s underlying mission, is mismatched.
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- Finance
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