Facebook Decides to Make Their Own Cryptocurrency

Author: G Money Horder

Fri Jun 21 2019

MENLO PARK, CA - At long last, Facebook has finally decided to give the world something useful. They have decided to create their own crpytocurrency, and it will be called Libra. To say that they are creating it, or even controlling it, is a bit of an overstatement. According to TechCrunh, Facebook "won't fully control Libra, but instead get just a single vote in its governance like other founding members of the Libra Association".

You gotta love how the news goes on for days about how important this news is, only to find out that it is not really all that important at all. Such is the way with the news today, especially where Facebook is concerned.

In my view, it seems kind of like Facebook is trying to move the narrative about their company to some other place than their troubles with election interference, fake news, and member privacy issues. Well, d'uh... They really, REALLY need to get something else going on.

This is still news, though
Regardless of Facebook's actual level on involvement in the project, what they are trying to do here makes sense. They are trying to make an actual currency. You know, one that you can buy stuff with. Even though people say that's what cryptocurrencies were created for, it sure doesn't seem that way. For all the coins I have tied up in this place and that, I have no direct way to actually spend the coins on anything.

I'm serious about this... If I want to actually spend any of my crypto on something, I would have to convert it to another currency first. And that costs fees. So for now, I just leave all the coins site there. As long as the values keep going up (which they seem to be for now), there is no point in cashing out anyway.

I have a Visa card that I can use to spend crypto - or so they say. I clicked on an ad and got it. I've never used it... The reality is that I have to keep a minimum balance on $100 in the account, and pay them $5 a month for the thrill of using the service. At the risk of stating the obvious, that is not really helpful to me at all.

Anyway... Libra is supposed to be an actual currency with which you can buy things. Probably Facebook merchandise, haha... Not really... It seems that they are trying to make it into a new PayPal. Now that would be interesting, and I would like to know more about that. And what I would really like to know more about is how easy it is to get a hold of some of this spiffy new coin without the exchange fees.

I will be looking into that. Because if they are coming up with a way where I can actually use some of this stuff that is just sitting there collecting virtual dust, that is something that I actually have an interest in.

Check back later... I may have an update to this story.