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The article is basically unreadable, but the fundamental point is probably correct in that if you care about the fact that Mastercard can and does impose pretty

The article is basically unreadable, but the fundamental point is probably correct in that if you care about the fact that Mastercard can and does impose pretty horrid censorship requirements on a lot of platforms, and a state that can see everything you do money wise has some pretty scary implications, then Bitcoin has offered some hope there. And Libra is intended (probably) to remove those advantages by co-opting the idea. Of course, the Libra consortium would also say that it doesn't do those things, because it seems to have promised a bunch of contradictory things to different people. Dystopian levels of control to regulators and banks and Facebook shareholders, but also "people can totally have independent wallets that will enable bypassing KYC etc! We've just not built it yet!" You'd have to be very silly to believe the latter plan will not be quietly dropped in favour of the former (and it's sadly logical to do so as far as FB are concerned).

jonahss 7y ago
I agree, the article gradually became more incomprehensible but the core point seems to be that the author has realized that mainstream currency will become crypto with government/corporate backing and lose the anonymity. which is true. It couldn’t have gone any other way, realistically. I’ve made my peace with it, at least the we keep making tiny steps forward. It sure beats the credit card networks and paypal.
- patrickaljord 7y ago
  > It sure beats the credit card networks and paypal. The credit card networks and paypal are part of the Libra alliance. My guess is, Libra will have the same problems as the current solutions but it will make onboarding easier for unbanked people in other countries who just need a whatsapp account to start using Libra. But for countries where most people already have a Visa/Mastercard, it's kind of redundant. Kind of like bitcoin in fact without the censorship but with price stability.
  - TACIXAT 7y ago
    I think (hope) the fees will be significantly lower for Libra than the credit and debit card networks. That is the biggest selling point for me.
    - ficklepickle 7y ago
      So MasterCard joined a consortium with the goal of destroying their existing lucrative business? I find that unlikely.
vosper 7y ago
> The article is basically unreadable, but the fundamental point is probably correct A lot of the articles on this blog are like that - barely-coherent ramblings. I think the general thesis of the site is that financial markets are driven by narratives, not maths / rational behaviours. They really need an editor, or someone to tell them to cut the pretentious writing style, weird metaphors, obscure poetry and movie references, and just get to the point.

jonahss 7y ago

I agree, the article gradually became more incomprehensible but the core point seems to be that the author has realized that mainstream currency will become crypto with government/corporate backing and lose the anonymity. which is true. It couldn’t have gone any other way, realistically. I’ve made my peace with it, at least the we keep making tiny steps forward. It sure beats the credit card networks and paypal.

patrickaljord 7y ago
> It sure beats the credit card networks and paypal. The credit card networks and paypal are part of the Libra alliance. My guess is, Libra will have the same problems as the current solutions but it will make onboarding easier for unbanked people in other countries who just need a whatsapp account to start using Libra. But for countries where most people already have a Visa/Mastercard, it's kind of redundant. Kind of like bitcoin in fact without the censorship but with price stability.
- TACIXAT 7y ago
  I think (hope) the fees will be significantly lower for Libra than the credit and debit card networks. That is the biggest selling point for me.
  - ficklepickle 7y ago
    So MasterCard joined a consortium with the goal of destroying their existing lucrative business? I find that unlikely.

vosper 7y ago

> The article is basically unreadable, but the fundamental point is probably correct A lot of the articles on this blog are like that - barely-coherent ramblings. I think the general thesis of the site is that financial markets are driven by narratives, not maths / rational behaviours. They really need an editor, or someone to tell them to cut the pretentious writing style, weird metaphors, obscure poetry and movie references, and just get to the point.