Joe Kernen, a former stockbroker and current co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk Box” show, has argued that fiat money is “currency for government” and Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency is “currency for corporations.”
“Who Put Facebook In Charge of Giving Currency to the World?”
Kernen, a biology graduate from the University of Colorado, believes Bitcoin (BTC) is the only currency that has been specifically designed “for the people.” Commenting further on Facebook’s crypto project, Kernen remarked:
Facebook’s Libra Coin [initiative] looks like it’s all about the money. And, who put Facebook in charge of giving currency to the rest of the world? [It’s] just a social media site.
He further questioned the social media giant’s intentions and crypto-related plans by noting:
Why should they be the ones to dictate how digital currency works? Who anointed them? Of all [entities] to anoint, why Facebook with their [troubled] history?…They’d be the last [ones] I’d [put in charge of a project like this.]
Libra Coin A Threat to the US Dollar?
Michael Brendan Dougherty, the Senior Editor at the National Review Online, criticized world governments for not taking a harsher stance against Facebook’s Libra project. Notably, Dougherty believes the Libra Coin could potentially pose a threat to the USD, the world’s most dominant currency.
Dougherty, whose comments came during an episode of The Editors (a podcast managed by the National Review), also addressed other serious problems related to social media companies. The podcast covered sensitive issues such as giant firms like Facebook being required to prove that their content removal and promotion policies are “politically neutral.”
Going on to show his support for the American government while explaining the potential threat the Libra project might pose to the U.S. economy, Dougherty noted:
The government’s appropriate response to an enormous, unaccountable spy agency that’s launching a currency that it wants to compete with the US dollar, is to nuke it from space.
Joseph Lubin, the founder of ConsenSys (a Brooklyn, New York-based development studio focused on the Ethereum (ETH) project), recently said that Facebook’s Libra is a “centralized wolf [disguised] in decentralized sheep’s clothing.”
Can Facebook Be Trusted with Financial Information?
Although Lubin acknowledged that Facebook may be able to hire skilled developers in order to ensure that its cryptocurrency is implemented properly, he questioned whether the social media giant should be trusted. The Ethereum Co-Founder remarked:
Don’t I need to trust Facebook and other intermediaries to trust Libra?
Lubin also seemed to be concerned about users’ financial privacy, as there are now many reports which confirm that Facebook has been making profits off its users’ personal data. Lubin noted:
What happens when you wrap your personal finances up in this, too? That our digital identity will never merge with Libra’s financial data is a hard perception to shake. It is almost a given, even if they have the best of intentions—“accidents” and incursions happen when relying on centralized architectures.
