Have you heard of the Facebook coin called Libra or GlobalCoin? Are you also on your toes to be among the first to acquire it? Not so fast mate! There are several things you should consider before joining this bandwagon because it does come with more than it lets on. Even Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO has not thrown caution to the wind when it comes to the dubbed “cryptocurrency”.
Facebook Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself
On June 18, 2019, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) hinted that the Facebook coin does not need ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) which regulators have been hammering on cryptocurrency exchanges. This is because the social media company already has data about each and every user of its platform and that number goes as high as over 2 billion people.
And the best part is, Facebook knows your name, address, phone number, and even your family and friends. Hey, it even knows what you like, ranging from music, movies, food, and even down to the adverts. While that may sound good to have someone know you even more than you know yourself, the con here is that the same platform will also know your wallet and practically who owns what, when, how, and where.
According to CZ, this is ridiculously the best Anti Money Laundering (AML) policy we’ve been talking about all along. Or is it? We’ll give you time to digest it, but while you’re at it, here’s what this all boils down to. Anonymity which is the major selling point of cryptocurrencies would’ve been washed down the drain.
The Purpose Behind Cryptocurrencies, Anonymity
What are we getting at? Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency was created as a decentralized form of payment without any central control or authority. It did not regard race, government, or country, and all it sought to provide a seamless mode of exchanging value.
While doing this, it came with privacy where you can anonymously send and receive payments and also have peace of mind while doing so. But take a look at Libra or GlobalCoin and you’ll know that it’s equivalent to snatching privacy out of your own hands and allowing Facebook to own your data once again.
Libra May Not Be That Bad Afterall
Nonetheless, the cryptocurrency community has taken the proposed launch of the Facebook coin in good faith because it will be opening the door to billions of people to troop into the cryptocurrency space, and that is until they know that there are other coins whose decentralized and permissionless nature offers so much more than a centralized virtual asset.
