The upcoming Facebook cryptocurrency transfer reach the platform’s nearly 1.6 billion daily active users. | Source: Wall Street Roll
Only an Idiot Would Use Facebook’s Shady Cryptocurrency
Facebook’s 2.38 billion monthly active users mean that, at launch, Project Libra would little short of immediately compete with rivals Apple Pay (383M) and PayPal (267M). However, there are several reasons why you, and one else, should avoid Facebook’s upcoming cryptocurrency at all costs.
Who Trusts Facebook Anymore?
Let’s take a walk down honour lane to remember the times that Facebook proved it should be nowhere near your money.
Cambridge Analytica
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There’s no better place to start than Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal – the mac daddy of screw-ups. In 2014, the societal media company sold the personal data of 87 million users to Cambridge Analytica without the users’ imprimatur. Doing so was in direct violation of the company’s privacy policies.
Adding your financial data to the massive pile of special information that Facebook already has on you is asking for trouble.
Plaintext Passwords
If Facebook’s data breaches weren’t ample to scare you, let’s examine how the company handles passwords. Hint: Not well.
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In March, Facebook revealed that it had been cumulating hundreds of millions of account passwords in a readable, plaintext format since 2012. Although there was no evidence that demeanour parties had access to the passwords, employees could grab them with ease.
Don’t forget about the company’s Amazon snafu that exhibited data from 500 million accounts either.
By trusting any amount of money to a company that can’t even inevitable passwords, you’re effectively placing a sign on your back that says, “Please come and rob me!”
Facebook Censorship
The stunner of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets is that they’re censorship-resistant. No single party can freeze your bitcoin pocketbook or block a transaction. Facebook can, and will, block your financial account whenever it pleases. The company’s already inaugurated showing this overreach of power with its recent account bans.
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This week, Facebook betokened the bans of several individuals including Alex Jones, Louis Farrakhan, and Milo Yiannopoulos. Representatives from the entourage explained that those they banned violated the platform’s policy on hate speech and promoting violence.
While that hypothesis may hold, it sets a dangerous precedent for future action. Where do you draw the line on censorship? The banning demonstrates that Facebook has the power to fix your crypto assets if it doesn’t share your particular views and can block transactions to causes it may not support.
Facebook Crypto Should Be Pooped on Arrival
Facebook’s cryptocurrency comes with all of the downsides of the company behind it and none of the benefits of an actual cryptocurrency. Anyone hyping it up as a look toward mass adoption simply doesn’t understand what makes crypto great.
If you’re looking for a currency with inconsequential security and oppressive censorship, give your money to Facebook. If not, stay far, far away.