My latest for Foreign Policy is up at last!
My thesis is that Libra is an attempt to fulfill the ideological aims of Bitcoin as seen by rich anarcho-capitalists who resent the very concept of regulation — by issuing their own private money in quantities large enough to affect the system.
These guys are absolutely big, arrogant and dumb enough to do another 2008 financial crisis in their own right, ‘cos they’re sure they’re the smartest guys in the room.
I was also leaked a smoking-gun quote from Carlos Maslatón of Xapo, on Libra’s explicit plans to set up as a shadow bank. “We will create a mirror banking system using your money” is a translation of his original words, “Vamos a crear un sistema bancario reflejo usando tu moneda,” in this audio from a WhatsApp chat group.
$5 and up patrons would have seen an early version of this article on Saturday. If you like my work, please sign up for the Patreon — and you’ll get the occasional preview of this sort!
(I’m also getting more stuck into the ICO book, and you’ll get early versions of book chapters as well — considerably expanded and revised from the blog post versions.)
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