Thread by @tracyalloway

Libra is a payments system designed to get Facebook a slice of that market. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it should make cryptocurrency enthusiasts pause. Thread --->

Libra is many things Bitcoin is not:

1. It is not decentralized (it's permissioned, at least to start with)

2. It arguably does not actually need Blockchain to work (try to change my mind on this)

3. It is not anonymous (but pseudonymous, transactions are 'shielded' by a company known for its obsession with privacy [that's sarcasm right there])

4. It’s not at all separated from the existing banking or financial system (It’s a stablecoin backed by fiat currencies and bank deposits)

5. It’s not libertarian (you dislike big banks and the government, so how do you feel about a consortium of big tech companies and Mastercard?)

Which brings me to my final observation. If the major selling point of this project is the potential to create a unified (and convenient) payments system - then it's worth asking if a company facing antitrust and political scrutiny is going to be the right one to do that.