The last week has seen Facebook face an increasing amount of difficulties relating to its Libra cryptocurrency. At the time of writing, the Libra Association has lost a number of its most notable founding partners. Now, a US Congressman is urging Facebook to abandon Libra, and instead embrace the existing premier cryptocurrency – Bitcoin.
US Congressman says Facebook should abandon Libra, focus on Bitcoin
Specifically, this proposal comes from the United States Rep. Warren Davidson (R). Davidson has suggested that instead of going through the hassle of pushing ahead with Libra development, it would be a “way better idea” to simply add Bitcoin support to its Calibra wallet.
Davidson made his suggestion during an interview for the Noded Bitcoin podcast on October 11th. In the interview, Davidson said that the fact that Facebook’s unveil of Libra came quite early is ”part of the beauty” of the project.
Somewhat pessimistically, Davidson said that this means that this has made many of Facebook’s existing problems even more clear. Part of this became clear during the congressional hearings relating to Libra earlier this year, which Davidson says increased the pressure on the social media giant.
Furthermore, this pressure is not exclusively limited to Libra. Rather, Facebook has been under increasing public pressure ever since the Cambridge Analytica scandal. As such, Davidson notes that “a lot of the [congressional hearing] questions weren’t even about Libra.”
Is giving Facebook control over transactions a good idea?
In addition to this, Davidson also questions how Facebook already filters some content. As such, he suggests that Facebook and Libra reveal a more fundamental struggle between “filtered transactions or freedom”:
“Facebook already filters content — some people say with bias, some people say it’s great, they’re protecting my safe space […] So do we want filtered speech or free speech? Do we want filtered transactions or freedom?”
The host of the Noded Bitcoin podcast, Pierre Rochard, did interject that this summer’s congressional hearings did enlighten the public regarding Libra and crypto. As such, it has had a positive impact on educating the American public on crypto – although much more is undoubtedly needed.
Consequently, Davidson suggests that it may, in fact, be easier for Facebook to simply add Bitcoin support to its Calibra wallet. Theoretically, Facebook could then still implement payment support across its services – relying on Bitcoin, instead of Libra.
However, Facebook is betting on the possibility that it will be able to succeed with its Libra development and implementation. Moreover, Calibra is also facing some difficulties, such as a fresh infringement lawsuit.
Rasmus Pihl is a writer for Toshi Times by day and an avid follower of the blockchain industry by night. Rasmus holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from the Gothenburg School of Business, Economics, and Law and runs a Swedish marketing consulting firm. Moreover, when he isn’t writing for Toshi Times, traveling, working or changing the world in some other capacity, Rasmus is more than likely caught up in postgraduate studies.
