CHICAGO ¨C Plans for Facebook¡¯s proposed ¡°stablecoin,¡± Libra, appear to be unraveling with the withdrawal of PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, eBay and Mercado Pago as potential sponsors.
This is hardly surprising, given growing awareness of Libra¡¯s potential adverse consequences. If it offers anonymity to its users, Libra will become a platform for tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist finance. If, on the other hand, its privacy protections are lax, Libra will give Facebook access to users¡¯ most intimate financial details.
Then there are the dangers Libra poses to economic and financial stability. Although Facebook¡¯s stablecoin will be backed by a portfolio of ¡°low-volatility assets,¡± anyone who lived through the 2008 global financial crisis will know that low volatility is more a state of mind than an intrinsic attribute of an asset.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.