Feed your mind. Feast your eyes.
EVER SINCE BITCOIN captured the
public’s interest with its mysterious
origin story and wildly fluctuating
exchange rate, blockchain–based
money — cryptocurrency — has been
big news. In a world where nothing
attracts capital like the combination
of tech jargon and free publicity,
that means crypto is metaphorically
a license to print money, as well
as literally a way to avoid needing
a license to print money.
In June, Facebook announced its
own crypto, Libra, operated by a
subsidiary, Calibra, and governed by
the Libra Association, which includes
payment partners like Visa and
PayPal, and potential users including
Uber, Vodafone and Spotify. It
promises the best of both worlds:
independence from banks, but with
stability and protection. For
Facebook, entering the payments
market could be a huge opportunity
to build commerce on its platform,
and reap the profits itself.
One problem with crypto claiming
to democratize money is that
anything dependent on tech
infrastructure is dependent on techinfrastructure giants. A crypto led
by Facebook does little to assuage
that. Nor does it emulate the
permissionlessness of Bitcoin:
although transfers between users’
Calibra wallets will be done peer–
to–peer via public key, Libra’s
blockchain will be managed only
by trusted partners. You can’t mine
your own. That does eliminate
a significant objection to Bitcoin:
the vast use of energy–hungry
computing power it encourages.
US economist Joseph Stiglitz
suggested the only way Facebook
could make money out of Libra
would be by abusing monopoly
power. Katharina Pistor, a Columbia
Law School professor, argued that
considering the likely scale,
Facebook’s promise to protect the
value of deposits posed “massive
risks” to global financial markets,
concluding that “governments must
step in and stop Libra before it
launches”. The Reserve Bank of
India obliged, prompting Facebook
to confirm it had no plans for the
country, which hosts its largest user
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Start
10 SEP 2019 maclife.com
What the heck?
Why is Facebook launching
a cryptocurrency?WINS & FAILS
NO MORE While updating the MacBook range, Apple silently
kills off the popular 12–inch.SPY CALLS Zoom videoconferencing vulnerability leaves
Mac webcams open to hackers.DEPARTED Design guru Sir Jonathan Ive quits Apple
without an immediate successor.NO LESS It was slim and stylish, but practical? Let’s be
honest, Nebraska has more ports.EYEBALLS Now influencers have a whole new way to grow
their audience.HEARTED There’ll be no new products, but Siri will show you
all the ones you used to like.