{"id":108834,"date":"2019-06-23T13:53:44","date_gmt":"2019-06-23T20:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?p=108834"},"modified":"2026-04-26T13:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T12:48:10","slug":"technical-details-libra-reveal-facebooks-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/technical-details-libra-reveal-facebooks-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"What the technical details behind Libra reveal about Facebook\u2019s plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

John deVadoss<\/a>\u2014development lead for NEO<\/a> based in Seattle, former general manager at Microsoft, and a computer scientist with a focus in machine learning and neural networks\u2014shared his insights from analyzing and testing Facebook\u2019s Libra.<\/p>\n

What is the intent behind Libra?<\/h2>\n

\u201cFacebook is trying to build a global bank and is attempting to create a world currency. And it\u2019s certainly doable, with usage across billions of individuals and the support of a large number of institutions. It\u2019s an attempt to remake the global banking infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

deVadoss elaborated:<\/p>\n

\u201cLibra is an attempt to build a global (central) bank that piggy-backs on existing central banks\u2019 monetary policy, with the goal of taking over and eventually deprecating them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What kind of impact could Libra have?<\/h2>\n

\u201cA shift in monetary policy from public officials to private corporations has a huge impact on consumer rights and privacy. This raises serious questions around global exchange and trade.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is Libra decentralized? Is it a blockchain?<\/h2>\n

\u201cI\u2019d argue, it\u2019s more Venmo-like. For example, Calibra, the wallet that holds the cryptographic keys for the users\u2014Facebook can move assets around for users. For now, it\u2019s a walled garden\u2014it\u2019s old school\u2014and with the Libra Association Facebook can extend its reach beyond the walled garden.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He continued by describing how Libra is not currently decentralized, nor would he consider it a blockchain:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not much of a decentralized platform. It\u2019s more of a distributed database. You have this distributed infrastructure to transfer assets, as indicated by its \u2018Move\u2019 programming language. But decentralization may not be the intent. They want to control this end-to-end.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In conclusion, deVadoss theorizes that Facebook may not have a desire or an intent to decentralize or to go beyond the financial scenarios:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not their goal. This goal is not to build a platform, but to build a solution – one more Facebook app, or perhaps it is better to think of Libra as one more set of Facebook features.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Will Libra help or hinder Bitcoin?<\/h2>\n

\u201cLibra is clearly competition for stablecoins. Bitcoin<\/a> isn\u2019t so much threatened, but stablecoins will have to ask themselves hard questions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He goes on to describe how Libra may help not just Bitcoin, but the overall cryptocurrency ecosystem:<\/p>\n

\u201cLibra provides new options for on-ramping. You can think of scenarios, where for example, you sell your old bicycle on Facebook Marketplace\u2014are you able to translate this to Libra directly? If so, this could accelerate mass adoption. This is good for Bitcoin and good for NEO.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What did Facebook model Libra after?<\/h2>\n

\u201cYou can argue that WeChat pioneered the combination of a social network and enormously scalable payment system. Facebook is openly mimicking WeChat. But, Facebook\u2019s ambition is much, much bigger. The big question for Facebook is how they will convince regulators and other players to collaborate.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, it seems that Libra was built by borrowing many of the best features developed in the last 10-12 years in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, according to deVadoss.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo new ideas were presented in the whitepaper. It\u2019s all a rehash of the same cryptocurrency ideas we already know and love,\u201d he continued.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He then suggested that Facebook borrowed and cherry-picked the following elements from these and other projects:<\/p>\n