Facebook’s Payment Revolution

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#FacebookCrypto

Facebook finally revealed key details of its highly-anticipated cryptocurrency platform this week.

What does this mean?

The platform, codenamed Libra, will allow users to make purchases on Facebook’s apps as well as third-party sites for almost non-existent fees. With more than two billion monthly active users, Facebook’s online community is so large that Libra, at least in principle, could become the world’s most widely-used currency. Apparently all-too-aware of its poor reputation for privacy violations, however, Facebook has launched a crypto subsidiary called Calibra, which will collect and use data independently of its core business. As a result, there should be no fear that a user’s spending history is being exploited by the social network for targeted advertising. In order to build further trust, Facebook has also established the Libra Association, a collective of 28 companies that include payment rivals such as Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal. Supposedly, this will allow other voices to veto any objectionable decisions made by the Facebook team. Libra is arguably the most ambitious project in Facebook’s 15-year history, but whether the crypto revolution it promises will actually take off, or indeed pay…