By Daniel Webb
Libra is a form of cyber currency that Facebook has been planning to launch. What makes Libra different than currencies like Bitcoin is the fact that Libra is backed by many international currencies including the U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, and the Euro. This makes Libra theoretically more stable than most other cryptocurrencies. As promising as Libra sounds however, it’s not without it’s doubters or controversy. Part of the problem many people have with Libra is that a council of private-company representatives would be employed to run and tweak the composition of the currency. This is off putting to many would be backers due to fear of corruption or just simple human error. This has led to the rollout of Libra falling flat on it’s face – least for now. Many huge payment companies such as Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, and others have pulled their support for Libra.
Libra has been important for media due to the fact that it’s attempted Launch has spurred an arms race of sorts for a new “global currency.” It’s also very important to Facebook due to a concept called “platform risk.” Platform risk is the danger that a newer, trendier technology or company could undercut your business by wooing users away. Facebook has slowly (and sometimes covertly) been acquiring other tech platforms and bringing them under their umbrella. Facebook doesn’t want to be left behind in the crypto-currency game so this time instead of waiting to acquire an existing company, they decided to be proactive and create their own. Cryptocurrency has been slow to catch on but one thing is for certain. If and when it does, Facebook is positioning itself to be a leader and innovator in the “digital wallet” industry.
How dows Libra differ from Bitoin? – https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/19/bitcoin-vs-libra-how-facebooks-cryptocurrency-is-different.html
Libra – A new global payment system – https://libra.org/en-US/
Media and Technology 