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You do a one time exchange of your Government issued currency for Libra. Then you start exchanging Libra for goods and services in a p2p way == which means Gove

You do a one time exchange of your Government issued currency for Libra. Then you start exchanging Libra for goods and services in a p2p way == which means Governments can't tax these goods and services == which means Governments will no longer have the power == which means they will not allow it. (I have not read the Libra papers fully. Im doing a far speculation here.)

lukevdp 7y ago
You’re forgetting that governments regulate the companies behind Libra, and can and will regulate it.
- mschuster91 7y ago
  > You’re forgetting that governments regulate the companies behind Libra, and can and will regulate it. Well... let's say you're a politician wanting to regulate Facebook, and let's say you have an affair with whom you communicate on Facebook or in Instagram DMs. If I were Facebook, I'd simply let an investigation team check if any dirt can be mined out of the troves of data - anything, even the dataset of GPS or other location pinpoints, can be enough to get a first hint. And now I discretely contact you and advise that there may be information around and that it would be a pity if that information were to get public. This is the ultimate problem with the size and capabilities that companies such as Facebook have.
  - lelima 7y ago
    >> I'd simply let an investigation team check if any dirt can be mined out of the troves of data That's Dark and Illegal
    - graphGL 7y ago
      Yeah, Facebook would never do anything dark and illegal
    - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
      You're just trying to entice Facebook in to doing it, aren't you. ;o)
  - cr0sh 7y ago
    > And now I discretely contact you and advise that there may be information around and that it would be a pity if that information were to get public. Is this really a threat any longer? I mean, Stormy Daniels, $130k payoff pre-election, etc and all...
    - flycaliguy 7y ago
      Usually when blackmailing a politician, the whole affair thing is a negotiated middle ground.
- woodpanel 7y ago
  That’s why the Libra Association is being set up in Switzerland.
- Yizahi 7y ago
  Which is why FB tried to pretend that they aren't involved by creating a fictional offshore "foundation" (Calibra). But that won't help them anyway. Offshore "foundations" are not get out of jail card.
  - np_tedious 7y ago
    "Libra" is the ostensibly independent / consortium organization in Switzerland. "Calibra" is a wholly owned Facebook subsidiary
brainwad 7y ago
> which means Governments can't tax these goods and services That's not true at all. Cash has the same problem of undeclared transactions, but the tax mostly still manages to get collected. If anything, the fact that Libra transactions will leave an electronic record makes it more likely that tax will get paid.
- jki275 7y ago
  I would hypothesize that cash transactions -- at least peer to peer transactions -- in general do not get taxed. It's axiomatic that cryptocurrency transactions are rarely taxed, most people have not paid taxes on those transactions. The IRS is certainly trying to tax them, and the electronic ledger function of (some) cryptocurrencies will make it easier to track them under some circumstances than cash. That may change as time goes on -- I'm not sure enough how libra is implemented to have an opinion on that yet.
- ascagnel_ 7y ago
  Even that opens another avenue of enforcement -- Al Capone was brought down on tax evasion charges, since all his earnings were from cash-only "transactions".

lukevdp 7y ago

You’re forgetting that governments regulate the companies behind Libra, and can and will regulate it.

mschuster91 7y ago
> You’re forgetting that governments regulate the companies behind Libra, and can and will regulate it. Well... let's say you're a politician wanting to regulate Facebook, and let's say you have an affair with whom you communicate on Facebook or in Instagram DMs. If I were Facebook, I'd simply let an investigation team check if any dirt can be mined out of the troves of data - anything, even the dataset of GPS or other location pinpoints, can be enough to get a first hint. And now I discretely contact you and advise that there may be information around and that it would be a pity if that information were to get public. This is the ultimate problem with the size and capabilities that companies such as Facebook have.
- lelima 7y ago
  >> I'd simply let an investigation team check if any dirt can be mined out of the troves of data That's Dark and Illegal
  - graphGL 7y ago
    Yeah, Facebook would never do anything dark and illegal
  - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
    You're just trying to entice Facebook in to doing it, aren't you. ;o)
- cr0sh 7y ago
  > And now I discretely contact you and advise that there may be information around and that it would be a pity if that information were to get public. Is this really a threat any longer? I mean, Stormy Daniels, $130k payoff pre-election, etc and all...
  - flycaliguy 7y ago
    Usually when blackmailing a politician, the whole affair thing is a negotiated middle ground.
woodpanel 7y ago
That’s why the Libra Association is being set up in Switzerland.
Yizahi 7y ago
Which is why FB tried to pretend that they aren't involved by creating a fictional offshore "foundation" (Calibra). But that won't help them anyway. Offshore "foundations" are not get out of jail card.
- np_tedious 7y ago
  "Libra" is the ostensibly independent / consortium organization in Switzerland. "Calibra" is a wholly owned Facebook subsidiary

brainwad 7y ago

> which means Governments can't tax these goods and services That's not true at all. Cash has the same problem of undeclared transactions, but the tax mostly still manages to get collected. If anything, the fact that Libra transactions will leave an electronic record makes it more likely that tax will get paid.

jki275 7y ago
I would hypothesize that cash transactions -- at least peer to peer transactions -- in general do not get taxed. It's axiomatic that cryptocurrency transactions are rarely taxed, most people have not paid taxes on those transactions. The IRS is certainly trying to tax them, and the electronic ledger function of (some) cryptocurrencies will make it easier to track them under some circumstances than cash. That may change as time goes on -- I'm not sure enough how libra is implemented to have an opinion on that yet.
ascagnel_ 7y ago
Even that opens another avenue of enforcement -- Al Capone was brought down on tax evasion charges, since all his earnings were from cash-only "transactions".