News broke yesterday the Libra Association had seen its eighth high-profile defection, this time from the telecom giant Vodafone. In today’s episode of The Breakdown, @nlw argues Association membership is far less of a factor in Libra’s success than key regulatory questions around domiciling, the value peg and the U.S.’s fear of a Chinese digital currency.
Libra has lost another Association member, but according to @nlw that’s likely low on its worries list, plus Square’s LN efforts TON’s SEC support.
Also in this episode, Square Crypto announced its plans for a «Lightning Development Kit» while Square also announced a new patent that could make crypto easier to use. In regulatory battles, meanwhile, both the Blockchain Association and the Chamber of Digital Commerce have filed amicus briefs around the SEC-Telegram lawsuit.
Why the U.S.’ $2 Trillion Stimulus, Unlimited QE Will Expose the Monetary System’s Flaws
As the crypto community digests a new wave of government intervention and stimulus, Michael Casey and Noelle Acheson join for a discussion.
CoinDesk Chief Content Officer Michael Casey and Head of Research Noelle Acheson join for a lively debate about the new $2 trillion stimulus package and era of “unlimited” QE, including:
- Whether (and on what time scale) fiscal and monetary stimulus might lead to inflation
- Whether the Federal Reserve buying corporate bonds amounts to a nationalization of the bond markets
- Why the appearance of a «digital dollar» in an earlier stimulus proposal was a huge surprise
- How a digital dollar in the form proposed would upset the balance of power among the Fed, commercial banks and citizens
- Why trust in governments and financial institutions is likely to achieve new lows in the wake of COVID-19
- Why people are reevaluating the meaning and purpose of money
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
Why Bison Trails Is Staying the Course on Libra
Viktor Bunin is a protocol specialist at Bison Trails, a company that offers one-click access to various blockchain nodes. While the number of Bison Trails users is, according to Bunin, headed «up and to the right,» he addressed concerns with Libra and the recent drop-out of major banking and business players.
In short? He’s not worried.
We spoke to Bunin at ETHDenver where he described the company’s view on Libra.
«I mean, honestly, I don’t know about specific companies or individuals,» he said. «But I think one thing that I can say is that Libra was always very ambitious and it’s very hard. It’s not right for everyone all the time. And I think that I have the utmost respect for everybody that joined and everybody that left. I just see people doing what was right for them.»
He added: «We really believe in the vision. Honestly.»
Bunin described Bison Trails’ philosophy as very grounded and mindful. To that end, he said the company didn’t jump into Libra just because of Facebook.
«When we joined the Libra Association, it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, hey, Facebook is doing something let’s join.’ It’s really about what difference we’re making in the world. This is going to be hard. This is going to be potentially scary for us because we’re a younger company. But we thought it was the right thing to do.»
