Libra

Gary Gensler, Chairmen of SEC
Gary Gensler, a Washington and Wall Street veteran who has closely studied the cryptocurrency field, is expected to be named chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the next several days by President-elect Joe Biden, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.


 * A former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Gensler served as a key financial regulator for former President Barack Obama, spearheading new derivatives rules after the 2008 financial crisis. He also served in the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration.
 * More recently, he has also testified before Congress about cryptocurrency and blockchain on multiple occasions, pushing back against comparisons between cryptocurrencies and Ponzi schemes and declaring that the still-unlaunched libra token met the requirements of being a security under U.S. law.
 * At MIT's Sloan School, Gensler taught a course on cryptocurrencies and blockchains, calling the technology "a catalyst for change in the world of finance and the broader economy."

Facebook's Libra Crypto Gets Ready to Launch in January, 2021 as a Single Coin
BL的观点：

新的SEC主席，Gary Gensler是个数字货币专家，据传他的观点是：数字货币是未来；美国一定要做；一定要政府能够监管，不能作为洗钱等的工具. 他本人跟facebook的小渣是很好的私人朋友. 所以我推断：美国会很快批准非政府/非FED的民间公司发行的数字货币，不止一家，会有很多家. 这些数字货币的共同特点是：1，实名（而不是匿名的比特币）（能够监管）2，与美元和/或黄金挂钩 3，非政府发行. Facebook的Libra将会是最早被批准的数字货币之一.

这些数字货币本身的价格波动不会太大（溢价很少），但发行这些数字货币的公司会狠值钱（稀有资源）. 因此facebook的股价将会迎来大涨.

Diem Association[edit]
Facebook established the Libra Association (later renamed to Diem Association) to oversee the currency, founded in Geneva, Switzerland. As of December 2020, Diem Association includes:


 * Payments: PayU Checkout.com
 * Technology and marketplaces: Facebook's subsidiary Novi Financial, Farfetch, Lyft, Spotify, Uber, Shopify
 * Telecommunications: Iliad SA
 * Blockchain: Anchorage, Bison Trails, Coinbase, Xapo
 * Venture capital: Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Initiatives, Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, Union Square Ventures, Slow Ventures, Temasek
 * Nonprofit and multilateral organizations, and academic institutions: Creative Destruction Lab, Kiva, Mercy Corps, Women's World Banking, Heifer International

Seven other companies had been named as Libra Association members in the initial June 2019 announcement, but left before the first Libra meeting on 14 October 2019: Booking Holdings, eBay, Mastercard, Mercado Pago, PayPal, Stripe and Visa Inc. Visa chairman and CEO Alfred F. Kelly clarified in July that Visa had not joined, but had signed a nonbinding letter of intent; and that "no one has yet officially joined." He said that factors determining whether Visa would, in fact, join included "the ability of the association to satisfy all the requisite regulatory requirements."

Vodafone joined the association in October 2019, but left in January 2020, saying they preferred to work on their mobile banking subsidiary M-Pesa.

Press coverage around the initial Libra announcement noted the absence of Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon and of any banks. Banking executives had been reluctant to join due to uncertainties surrounding regulation and feasibility of the scheme.

In late February 2020, e-commerce site Shopify and cryptocurrency brokerage Tagomi joined.

The association hopes to grow to 100 members with an equal vote.

In late April 2020, the payment processing company, Checkout.com, announced they would be joining the association.

In May 2020, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, cryptocurrency investor Paradigm and private equity firm Slow Ventures announced they would join the association.

Libra Association was renamed to Diem Association on December 1, 2020, as part of the rebranding from Libra to Diem.

在国际货币体系的变局中，我们需要特别关注美国的数字美元战略选择. Facebook主导的Libra，由于拥有20多亿全球用户基础，一旦获得西方国家的市场准入，就很有可能迅速发展成为全球性的超主权数字货币. 一是可能冲击主权货币地位. 弱小国家最容易成为“货币替代”的目标，特别是遭遇经济波折时，本国法定货币失去国民的信任，就可能被超主权数字货币所取代，形成超越货币主权的货币替代. 二是可能形成超越商业银行的金融独角兽. Libra一旦建成覆盖全球各个角落的金融基础设施，就可以从支付清算入手，逐步进入储蓄、融资、投资、保险、资产交易等领域，渗透平民大众的经济生活，全面争夺传统金融业务，成为跨国金融独角兽. 三是可能强化美元货币霸权地位. 美国的国家实力领先世界. Libra数字货币系统的基本依托是美元，或将成为数字经济时代美国继续推进美元货币霸权的工具，有可能排斥数字人民币进入国际市场.

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/giK_S2thiqVIlt7ncnYxfg

Feb 16, 2021:

Diem is currently undergoing massive testing. It is believed that Diem is almost ready to launch now, but is still waiting on final regulatory approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). Switzerland is the perfect base for Diem to launch its stablecoin. Switzerland has established itself as a crypto-friendly state, offering clear guidance on digital assets from an early stage in the life cycle of the technology. Last year, the Swiss parliament passed a sweeping set of financial and corporate law reforms around distributed ledger technology (DLT). These laws, which are due to come into effect early this year, make it likely highly that Diem will be approved by FINMA this year. Once approved, Diem will provide a further catalyst for the wider adoption of cryptocurrency, with all of the benefits this entails.

Source:https://forkast.news/facebook-diem-libra-launch-crypto-stablecoin/

Chats:

 * 讨论一下比特币/虚拟数字货币吧
 * 我个人一直不认同比特币，但我认同区块链技术，和在此基础上的虚拟数字货币. Facebook的Libra有没有可能第一个突破？
 * 虚拟数字货币根本不需要挖矿机，而在于作为法定的支付手段. Facebook的社交媒体和政治献金在这次大选中的功劳，能不能帮它打开Libra的市场？
 * 作为支付手段，不挑战美元和央行的地位，理论上没问题. 就看谁是第一个了.
 * 我一直认为虚拟数字货币一定要央行/政府发行，替代纸币才可以. 但现实会不会是百家争鸣？

简单的纸币电子化？


 * 加上blockchain技术

比特币最重要特点之一是总量恒定. 政府发的能做到这点吗？


 * 比特币不能作为法定支付手段，总归没用啊

比特币这种是反政府的，所以注定了起起伏伏，各种打压


 * 那对于发行者的股价/市值呢？FB就不再是社交媒体，而是有金融支付属性了.

这个电子货币有个去中心化的前提. 我理解，那个FB的solution有道理，联合金融机构组建一个网络. 不过这个去中心化，和政府就是对立的

微信2019年小程序相关的交易金额是1.8万亿，比拼多多交易额还多.

这个中心化是谁？现在美元的交易中心也不是美国政府吧？

各国货币还是各个央行为中心，我的理解是发行权

微信小程序去年总成交总额（GMV）达1.8万亿人民币，同比增长122%，比同业拼多多去年1.6万亿元人民币GMV还多，因此，麦格理预计微信小程序日活跃用户（DAU）的平均支出将同比上升67%.

https://wallstreetcn.com/articles/3618045

比特币总量恒定，去中心化，私密. 市场有这些有很大需求. 同时又反政府，受各球政府明里暗里反对. 所以注定了是起伏很大的炒作产品


 * 从这个角度讲，炒炒有道理

你讲的电子币和比特币完全两种不同需求的东西，互不冲突


 * 我的意思是虽然我不喜欢facebook，但它可能不是“非死不可”. 反而有可能因为Libra，股价冲天
 * 如果Facebook有淡马锡支持能发行，别人也可以，还有谁在准备发行？
 * 如果放开/准入了，就不存在垄断了


 * 社交媒体已被美垄断. 金融支付系统再垄断. 欧州等其它国家别玩了.
 * 我和您的观点一样，铸币税是国家机器的特权，数字货币只有在无法提供基础设施的小国、弱国（实际主权不独立）才可能有能成为法币，在发达国家或大国最终只能是央行发行，但这和之前的电子银行没有本质区别. 区块链就是一种加密技术, 分布式变得可行也主要是因为个人计算终端算力严重过剩. 集中一定比分布式要有效率，只要集中能够处理的过来. IBM 主机的Sysplex就是集群处理，结合了分布式和集中处理的优点.
 * 如果和法币一比一对应, 实际依然不是独立发钞，没有直接和央行对立. 但如果清算不通过中央清算系统，实际对法币还是会照成冲击. 因为发钞和交易跟踪两者都是国家机器的特权. 之前阿里的支付宝事实上就是自己发币，自己清算，生态内客户和商户足够多的话，已经成为事实上的虚拟国中国（按照货币发行和监管，以及网上监管/警察而言）
 * 个人观点，不见得对. 但是炒比特币是另一回事，我之前把两者等同起来了，结果从不到800/枚就讨论，一直错失良机[Sob]
 * 比特币和电子币已发展成两种不同需求的东西
 * 有想象力和空间的就是“生态内的客户和商户的数量”，这是为啥我引用微信小程序为例. Facebook的用户群体量还是很大的.