Thoughts and Musings: Project Libra – Facebook’s GlobalCoin White Paper is Public

by Jasmin Bey Cowin, Ed.D.

Facebooks Project Libra, the long anticipated, secretive GlobalCoin White Paper finally went public https://libra.org/en-US/white-paper/. It creates more questions about the implications of decentralized blockchains,  low-volatility cryptocurrency, and smart contract platforms. According to the White Paper the decentralized currency will be Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT). Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) is the ability of a decentralized system to provide safety guarantees in the presence of faulty, or “Byzantine” members. (BFT consensus protocols are designed to function correctly even if some validator nodes — up to one-third of the network — are compromised or fail.)

The Switzerland-based Libra Association, a group composed of Facebook and its global corporate partners with an entry fee of $10 million, will be making all the governance decisions surrounding this new global currency. Chris Hughes, who left Facebook in 2007, tweeted on Friday that Libra is both “brilliant and frightening” because it shifts crucial power into the hands of private companies. In the Financial Times op-ed, he wrote:

Let us imagine that Libra works as planned. Hundreds of millions of people around the world will be able to send money across borders as easily as they send a text message. The Libra Association’s goals specifically say that ability will encourage “decentralised forms of governance”. In other words, Libra will disrupt and weaken nation states by enabling people to move out of unstable local currencies and into a currency denominated in dollars and euros and managed by corporations. quoted from https://gizmodo.com/facebook-co-founder-says-libra-will-empower-corporation-1835735044

Bitcoin oracle Andreas Antonopolous’ (https://aantonop.com/) initial review and reaction to the Facebook GlobalCoin Initiative: “While Facebook’s Libra doesn’t compete against any open, public, permissionless, borderless, neutral, censorship-resistant blockchains, it *will* compete against both retail banks and central banks. This is going to be fun to watch.”

Larry Cermak, Director of Research at The Block @TheBlock__ , was more specific in his observations: “Just so we are clear, Libra is: not decentralized not censorship resistant not guaranteed to work technologically not guaranteed to be cleared by regulators not clear in regards to tax implications” from https://lnkd.in/eiBXe6d

Here my concern: Will Facebook through GlobalCoin pose a threat to the US Dollar? GlobalCoin will be a stablecoin. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to minimize the volatility of the price by being pegged to currency, or to exchange-traded commodities such as precious metals or industrial metals. GlobalCoin will be pegged to a “basket of fiat currencies”. The Wall Street Journal reported that the social media giant has signed on more than a dozen backers for its GlobalCoin cryptocurrency. “Each of the new backers will invest roughly $10 million in the project as part of a governing consortium for the cryptocurrency. The crypto will operate within the company’s messaging infrastructure – WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.” quoted from Nikhilesh De.

Featured Image: Facebook Stablecoin Initiative is Internally Called “Project Libra”
Glen Bates May 6, 2019 https://news.ibinex.com/2019/05/06/facebook-stablecoin-initiative-is-internally-called-project-libra/

Author: drcowinj

Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for it today,” determined Malcolm X at the O.A.A.U.’s [Organization of Afro-American Unity] founding forum at the Audubon Ballroom. (June 28, 1964). (X, n.d.) Dr. Jasmin Bey Cowin a Fulbright Scholar, SIT Graduate, completed the Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP™) at Columbia University, Teachers College. Dr. Cowin served as the President of the Rotary Club of New York and Assistant Governor for New York State; long-term Chair of the Rotary United Nations International Breakfast meetings; and works as an Assistant Professor at Touro College, Graduate School of Education. Dr. Cowin has over twenty-five years of experience as an educator, tech innovator, entrepreneur, and institutional leader with a focus on equity and access to digital literacy and education in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Her extensive background in education, administration, not-for-profit leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and technology innovation provide her with unique skills and vertical networks locally and globally. Dr. Cowin participates fully in the larger world of TESOL academic discipline as elected Vice President and Chair-Elect for the New York State, NYS TESOL organization, for the 2021 conference. Ongoing research, expressed in scholarly contributions to the advancement of knowledge is demonstrated through publications, presentations, and participation in academic conferences, blogging, and other scholarly activities, including public performances and exhibitions at conferences and workshops. Of particular interest to her are The Blockchain of Things and its implications for Higher Education; Current Global Trends in TESOL; Developing Materials and Resources in Teaching English; E-learning; Micro and Macro-Methodologies in TESOL; E-Resources Discovery and Analysis; and Language Acquisition and the Oculus Rift in VR. View all posts by drcowinj