The regulators have a hard time accepting Facebook’s creation, the Libra coin. Is the company trying to prove that it’s better than the others by trying to defame them?
Yes, Libra is controversial. The stablecoin has garnered a great deal of attention from just about everyone. And the sentiment of that scrutiny isn’t always full of candidness. The coin received critique from the governments, the banks, and even Donald Trump.
This opposition has forced Mark Zuckerberg to once again visit the regulators in Washington D.C. As a result, yesterday Altcoin Buzz published an article with a provocative title “Is Zuckerberg Sucking Up to US Policymakers Due to Libra?” And it seems that the impression was right. At least judging by the new tweet that reads “What you need to know…Libra was designed to deliver real value and utility to users in their day-to-day lives. It was not designed to be a vehicle for investment or speculation like many other cryptocurrencies.”
What you need to know… Libra was designed to deliver real value and utility to users in their day-to-day lives. It was not designed to be a vehicle for investment or speculation like many other cryptocurrencies. #LibraAssoc #FinancialInclusion pic.twitter.com/dylNp7Usyv
— Libra (@Libra_) September 20, 2019
The formulation feels almost like “the best defense is a good offense.” All of a sudden the company decides to position itself as “a proper coin,” not “a speculator’s haven.” To do that, it chooses to hint at the fact that many (without specifying which exactly) cryptocurrencies are innately “evil.” Libra is the only one that is “trustworthy.”
Missing the mark just a bit
Whether or not Libra made this post intentionally matters little. After all, the regulators and the banks have a different problem with Libra, which is, by the way, a stablecoin. And the latter is not really subject to speculation. Doubt that anyone has ever suggested it.
The sector is more concerned about such issues as privacy, data storage and the fact that private companies are challenging the concept of sovereignty. Besides, Libra spells trouble for many banks and remittance companies because they might be put out of business. Thus, it is not a surprise that it is facing such strong opposition.
With that in mind, Libra’s tactic to suddenly attack all other cryptocurrencies, implying their imperfections, isn’t really wise. This will hardly impress the regulators but it will baffle the community. After all, there are similar projects in the crypto-verse that entertain the concept of banking the unbanked. Electroneum is one of them, for example.
At the end of the day, Facebook primarily has to deal with its own issues that very much exist. That would be a much better tactic than defaming others.