The world has been entrenched in a deluge of news surrounding Facebook’s recently announced cryptocurrency initiative, dubbed Libra, which was been met with a wide variety of responses from Bitcoin advocates and analysts alike, ranging from positivity and excitement to extreme negativity.
Despite the significant amount of information now available about Libra, analysts are still split on whether or not it is a positive thing, as some crypto believers are critical of it being predicated on a centralized entity, while traditional analysts are noting that it is a bullish initiative that could provide Facebook’s e-commerce initiatives a major boost.
Joe Kernen: Facebook’s Libra is Just Currency for Corporations, Bitcoin is Currency for the People
Joe Kernen – one of the hosts of CNBC’s popular show Squawk Box – has long been skeptical of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general, but the recent news surrounding Facebook’s Libra initiative may have been enough to flip his biases – turning him into a Bitcoin evangelist.
Earlier this week, Kernen expressed skepticism for Libra during the show, criticizing the fact that it is not blockchain-based, saying:
“Cryptocurrencies get their value from the blockchain… Are they calling it a cryptocurrency? Well it’s not.”
As suddenly becomes a bitcoin believer (maybe), makes a run at $10k. Coincidence?
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC)
Now, Kernen has doubled down on this sentiment, noting in today’s episode of Squawk Box that Libra is not a currency for the people, while Bitcoin is.
“Libra is currency for corporations. Only Bitcoin is currency for the people, for the people themselves… I’m feeling like a [Bitcoin] evangelist almost,” he explained, further questioning Libra by asking “who put Facebook in charge of giving currency to the rest of the world.”
"Libra is currency for corporations. Only Bitcoin is currency for the people" – "I'm feeling like an evangelist, almost!"
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC)
This is a very reasonable criticism of Libra, as Facebook’s massive privacy and data violations in recent history have certainly tarnished their trust in the eyes of the world, so it is unclear as to whether or not their promises of protecting Libra user’s private data will be enough to convince people to actually use it.
Despite Criticisms, Wall Street Analysts Are Still Bullish on Libra
Although there are justified concerns surrounding Libra, analysts at major Wall Street institutions are still .
Analysts at SunTrust spoke about Facebook’s crypto initiative, noting that it could help significantly expand Facebook’s business model.
“We believe this is a major initiative for Facebook, and one that has the potential of putting the company front and center in areas beyond advertising… It positions the company as one of the key actors at the center of the crypto currency development, and a main architect of the future of this emerging and important trend,” they recently explained.
Despite this, Libra will only help benefit Facebook if users actually take to it, and the plethora of other, more decentralized, cryptocurrencies will likely pose stiff competition.
Featured image from Shutterstock.