On: Facebook reveals its cryptocurrency Libra

[tim333]

From the technical paper it seems to be able to be transferred anonymously like bitcoin etc

>To create a new account, a user first generates a fresh verification/signature key-pair

>The Libra protocol does not link accounts to a real-world identity. A user is free to create multiple accounts by generating multiple key-pairs. Accounts controlled by the same user have no inherent link to each other. This scheme follows the example of Bitcoin and Ethereum in that it provides pseudonymity for users. https://developers.libra.org/docs/assets/papers/the-libra-bl...

I'm wondering if this may create legal problems for Facebook and its partners when the currency gets used for illegal stuff. Bitcoin doesn't get sued when it's used for drug dealing because there is no one to sue.

[helen___keller → tim333]

I think the trick here is that Facebook is not inherently in charge of transactions, each validator is. Meaning, each validator will have their own efforts to make sure nobody pushing transactions on their node is doing crime (and/or that their identity is known so it can be forwarded to police when linked with crime).

In practice what this probably means is that each validator will require a lot of personal information tied to each public key before accepting transactions from that public key. In other words, I would wait until/if someone trustworthy partners as a Libra node (e.g. my bank who already knows my financial history) until I sign up to give it a shot.