Location: Palo Alto Date: Wednesday, 24th August Project: Abra Role: CEO & Founder
Facebook announced in June that they would be launching Libra, with the mission of enabling a "simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people".
Libra proposes a permissioned blockchain, meaning that unlike Bitcoin it isn't a decentralised project as control over the network is governed by the Libra Association. With these unique properties, Libra doesn't fit into the government-issued fiat financial model or the decentralised and trustless Bitcoin model instead. Libra is the dawn of a new type of money, the dawn of corporate money.
Libra has not come without criticism, from central banks to governments to the cryptocurrency community and even the President of the United States, the announcement has ruffled feathers.
Following two days of hearings in DC, where the head of Libra faced questions from Congress, there is still regulatory uncertainty regarding the currency. Other governments have also been pushing back, and there are rumours that some of Libra Association Founding Members are backing out. Will Libra even launch? If so, will it revolutionise money?
To kick-off the What Bitcoin Did Libra series I am joined by Bill Barhydt, the CEO and Founder of Abra. We discuss why Facebook is launching Libra, why they didn't use Bitcoin and why Bill considers Libra as positive.
