Facebook's New Cryptocurrency Probably Offers You Nothing
Rodney Johnson | June 18, 2019 | The dark days of 2009 now seem like forever ago. We didn't know which banks would survive. The Fed made all banks take bailout money so that citizens wouldn't know which ones were in trouble and then drain them of deposits. The Fed made bank stocks ineligible for shorting so that investors wouldn't drive their market caps to zero. We worried that fiat currencies, those printed by governments and backed by nothing, would go to zero. Against that backdrop, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies entered the public realm, and for the next eight or nine years they gained credibility and traction. Cryptos were going to do everything. Replace the dollar. End all fiat currencies. Replace gold. Put transaction companies out of business. Make moving money immediate and seamless. With such incredible promise, cryptos eventually boomed in 2018… then imploded. Two things drove their downfall: Cryptos delivered on exactly zero of their promises, and we came to understand that traditional currencies are still here… and will be here as long as governments exist. With that as background, there aren't many reasons for Facebook to enter the space with its new cryptocurrency, libra, except one: avoiding banks. The new currency, unveiled today, though it won't be put into use until sometime next year, will be a stable coin, meaning all units will be backed by something of value. Facebook says the coins will be backed by a basket of currencies held in a trust account. For every unit you buy, you'll essentially own a unit of yen, euro, U.S. dollar, British pound, or Chinese yuan, for example. This isn't a reason to buy libra. If your home currency appreciates against others in the world, like the U.S. dollar getting stronger against the euro, then your libra will go down in value against your home currency. Yeah, But Should I Use It? READ MORE » How to Build a Recession-Proof Portfolio  Chief Retirement Strategist Charles Sizemore will be taking over The Rich Investor all week to talk about something on everybody's mind… How close are we to the end of the bull market… and what can you do about it? He'll talk about Warren Buffett's worst advice… the three keys to a recession-proof portfolio… and more! Be sure to check your email inbox each day around 11am ET or click here to visit The Rich Investor.
| Trending Stories... With all eyes focused on Facebook's cryptocurrency reveal tomorrow, what the Fed will do this Wednesday, and Slack's IPO on Thursday, all of which we'll address in the coming days, let's turn our attention to another major issue that is silently unfolding: the great baby bust. More than any of the current hot events, it... When my team first heard of this cycle, they thought I was crazy. They begged – begged – me not to publish anything about it. I did it anyway, and when people heard about it, many thought I was coo-coo. Some people still do. But this cycle has proved to be one of the best... The state of New Jersey is putting a stake in the ground. Or rather, a stake through the hearts of taxpayers and citizens. But that's nothing new. Anyway, Governor Phil Murphy recently announced the state government's goal to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2050, compared with the 2006 levels. That's great. He plans to do... Never mind that China is the talk of the world, right now, what with the U.S.-China trade war in full swing, I've talked a lot about China's overbuilding bonanza since the 1980s… and especially since 2000 with total debt exploding 64 times since. China doesn't just print money like the rest of the developed world.... I haven't tried a Beyond Meat (Nasdaq: BYND) burger, but I want to. With all the hype surrounding the company, and restaurants adding it onto their menus, it just seems logical to give it a test run. What's the worst that could happen, I waste $7 and never do it again? My wife isn't convinced.... | 
No comments:
Post a Comment