Libra Couldn’t Be Successful Without Blockchain, Claims COO

Since the social media giant revealed this asset, regulators across the world have been wary of such a challenge to the traditional financial system. That is, why should users trust a currency from the world’s largest social media platform that has had tons of privacy issues previously? Well, Tomer Barel, the COO at Calibra, Libra’s cryptocurrency wallet, believes the answer lies in blockchain.

Libra Over Fiat

Speaking at the Ethereal conference this weekend, Barel claims that fiat currencies don’t work and that blockchain would because it “cannot be controlled by a single entity.” That is on top of the typical blockchain benefits like transparency, security, and the like, of course. Barel then goes into the general “banking the unbanked” use case regarding blockchain technology. He says that cash is Libra’s biggest competitor and that providing a cryptocurrency bank could help the general public where cash cannot. “When people use cash, it demonstrates the limitations of modern financial services. When we see the use of cash diminish, that means we will have been successful in providing more access to financial services,” he says. And, Barel claims that because Libra is open-source, it’s a “utility” instead of a form of money, giving it even more advantage over fiat.

A Confusing Bunch

Barel says that while the group plans to keep Libra away from Facebook’s social media platform, many are having a hard time considering them two different entities, stating that “the confusion is natural. It’s a combination of confusion and mistrust. [Libra] is a project that was initiated and developed within Facebook.” This is interesting considering that Facebook created a majority of the code going into Libra. However, one should note that upon its release, Libra will be owned by a variety of different companies all who have participated in the stablecoin’s development in some way. Recently, the CEO of Abra said that Libra originally wanted to use Bitcoin’s network to build Libra. They couldn’t however, because it wasn’t scalable. What do you think about the current state of Libra? Will blockchain technology be enough to convince the masses? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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