<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="If the possibility of Facebook and friends controlling your private data and financial history is a little too cringy for you, you’re not alone: China shares your concerns.” data-reactid=”19″>If the possibility of Facebook and friends controlling your private data and financial history is a little too cringy for you, you’re not alone: China shares your concerns.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content=""No digital currency can make the entire currency and financial world as nervous as Libra," Mu Changchun, deputy director of the People’s Bank of China’s payments department, told Chinese media outlet Sina last week.” data-reactid=”20″>“No digital currency can make the entire currency and financial world as nervous as Libra,” Mu Changchun, deputy director of the People’s Bank of China’s payments department, told Chinese media outlet Sina last week.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Changchun explained to Sina that China has basically decided to combat the perceived threat of Facebook’s Libra by creating it’s very own state-backed Libra clone.” data-reactid=”21″>Changchun explained to Sina that China has basically decided to combat the perceived threat of Facebook’s Libra by creating it’s very own state-backed Libra clone.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Changchun also said that China’s Libra-esqe crypto will be compatible with Wechat and Alipay (the closest thing in the country to Whatsapp and Paypal). However, as opposed to Libra, this digital currency "would be a centrally controlled currency," which is… great?” data-reactid=”22″>Changchun also said that China’s Libra-esqe crypto will be compatible with Wechat and Alipay (the closest thing in the country to Whatsapp and Paypal). However, as opposed to Libra, this digital currency “would be a centrally controlled currency,” which is… great?
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="China’s move to unleash its own version of Libra before Facebook and its consortium of Silicon Valley partners can get past regulators does seem to support the argument put forth by Libra co-creator David Marcus. In late August, Marcus warned that if legislators didn’t let Libra off the ground soon, actors outside of “the free world” (i.e. China) would do it first.” data-reactid=”23″>China’s move to unleash its own version of Libra before Facebook and its consortium of Silicon Valley partners can get past regulators does seem to support the argument put forth by Libra co-creator David Marcus. In late August, Marcus warned that if legislators didn’t let Libra off the ground soon, actors outside of “the free world” (i.e. China) would do it first.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="But not everyone agrees that Facebook’s lobbying strategy is the right way to go.” data-reactid=”24″>But not everyone agrees that Facebook’s lobbying strategy is the right way to go.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content=""I doubt that China doing something foolish would make it easier for the U.S. to do something equally foolish," Jason Bloomberg, president of digital analysis firm Intellyx, told Decrypt. "If anything, it would make American interests more wary."” data-reactid=”25″>“I doubt that China doing something foolish would make it easier for the U.S. to do something equally foolish,” Jason Bloomberg, president of digital analysis firm Intellyx, told Decrypt. “If anything, it would make American interests more wary.”
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Although the precise characteristics of the "Chinese Libra"—which will be called China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP)—are still unknown, concerns about data handling in both these projects have been widely debated.” data-reactid=”26″>Although the precise characteristics of the “Chinese Libra”—which will be called China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP)—are still unknown, concerns about data handling in both these projects have been widely debated.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="For example, during Facebook congressional hearings in July, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Libra a “currency controlled by an undemocratically selected coalition of largely massive corporations.” It could be said, then, that China’s Libra competitor is a digital currency controlled by an undemocratically selected authoritarian regime, which is… not great?” data-reactid=”27″>For example, during Facebook congressional hearings in July, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Libra a “currency controlled by an undemocratically selected coalition of largely massive corporations.” It could be said, then, that China’s Libra competitor is a digital currency controlled by an undemocratically selected authoritarian regime, which is… not great?
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Bloomberg, however, is unconcerned:” data-reactid=”28″>Bloomberg, however, is unconcerned:
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content=""Yes, a Chinese crypto could threaten data privacy if it becomes widely accepted—but that is a stupendously large ‘if’!" Bloomberg said.” data-reactid=”29″>“Yes, a Chinese crypto could threaten data privacy if it becomes widely accepted—but that is a stupendously large ‘if’!” Bloomberg said.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="So while it may be confined to China’s own borders, what we’re left with is a showdown between a token created by a company that has made billions of dollars through irresponsible handling its customers’ private data, and a token created by a country obsessed with control and censorship and known for making data operators save their users’ private information locally and deliver it when necessary.” data-reactid=”30″>So while it may be confined to China’s own borders, what we’re left with is a showdown between a token created by a company that has made billions of dollars through irresponsible handling its customers’ private data, and a token created by a country obsessed with control and censorship and known for making data operators save their users’ private information locally and deliver it when necessary.
Not exactly “Satoshi’s vision.”
Add Comment