Crypto Trailblazer Says Facebook’s Libra Threatens to Undo Blockchain Gains
- Ethereum co-founder Mihai Alisie fears erosion of privacy
- Corporate control goes against ethos of distributed networks
Facebook Inc.’s foray into digital currencies risks reversing gains in privacy and user sovereignty won by computer-networking pioneers, according to one of the co-founders of Ethereum, the blockchain of choice for most business and finance projects.
Facebook has received pushback from politicians including President Donald Trump and regulators since announcing its plans to develop Libra, a digital asset backed by cash and short-term securities, that could be sent between the company’s more than 2 billion customers with the help of blockchain. David Marcus, head of Facebook’s Libra subsidiary Calibra, will appear next week before Congress. The company has already drawn lawmakers’ ire for a series of stumbles including major data breaches and allowing Russians to hijack its platform during the 2016 election to push Trump’s candidacy.