Picture from ijmaki @ Pixabay

Facebook should try to become the global version of WeChat, instead of working on the next crypto scam.

I like the idea of Bitcoin. A state transition system, with a decentral consensus mechanism. I also like the idea of Ethereum. A decentral Turing complete machine, which enables parties to conclude contracts without the risk of being betrayed. Cryptonote derivates like Monero are also fascinating because users can do pseudonym and anonym transactions with ring signatures.

But there are also many things I don’t like about crypto. Scams, Airdrops, master nodes with “guaranteed” profit, useless ERC20 Tokens, projects that suddenly disappear, price manipulations and much more.

When I read the first news about Libra, I thought “Wow, Facebook raises the sale of useless nodes to a whole new level. Instead of selling them to 85 years old people who never wrote an E-mail in their life, they sell them to Visa and Mastercard. That’s smart.”

But there are various technical and regulatory problems. The technical problems of Libra are summed in a tweed up by the lawyer Marco Santori:

The big advantage of the previous blockchains is that they are free of censorship. Money laundering or illegal activities play no role. With the possession of the private key, users can sign a transaction. However, Facebook, as a globally active company, must comply with the law. It will be a challenge to maintain a balance between decentralization and legal compliance.

The elephant in the room is the regulation. And with established companies like Visa and Mastercard, financial institutions and countries will regulate it tougher. Instead of playing central bank, Facebook should try to become a global version of WeChat.