Sure but then you are an idiot. Let me prove that point to you.
- The state you live in usually has the sole power monopole as in "police can come and restrict your freedom" - state also demands taxes to be payed in the states money - controlling exchange rates. Owning worth in a phony baloony spreadshed - is worth nothing. You'll be the most streadsheediest rich person in jail - if you dont resort to "real" money to pay taxes. Which is why currency exchanges are kind of a thing. And even will be in the digital realm. Although the promise is, that they will have less "power" - because people will act on promises alone (account balances), for many of their daily tasks - without ever seeing anything that resembles money (that thing to pay taxes in). If you can make people do that. The service you provide is literally zero. Its almost like a magic trick. Believe. And it works. And if all that you are selling is "believe" - literally anybody can do that. Apple (applepay), Google (Google wallet), Amazon (Amazon paymnet), Paypal (something, something ebay),...Welcome to the corperate store.
And corporation then only interacts with the state (former monopolist of "money") - at the end of a day - to compare balance sheets. All the billion transactions during that day - suddenly are removed from any 'real' economy. They just got privaticed. What has person X done? Facebook cant tell you dear state - we so sorry. Now - how could this ever become an issue? Think. Think hard.
- 80% used for money laundering is no joke. The only reason that crypto currencies get away with it currently is - that the amount of money within these economies is limited. Otherwise feds all over the world would have cracked down on their use - as they did in china. China had a real problem of capital flight related to crypto - where when you are your typical unethical business man, or sweatshop owner, you would extract as much currency as possible out of the country and convert to western currencies - if you expected an economic downturn. Stuff like this becomes real very fast. Which brings us to.
- Circumventing international financial laws, by aiding capital flight.Last bank run potential in greece had the state freeze peoples assets for months, just so money was kept in their economies. Enter a stateless currency the size of what facebook is proposing - and you'll bankrupt entire countries - with mere memes. The potential is there. People are fucking dump. The herd effect is real.
- Crypto based on fiat money (as real currencies, but at least they are backed by "you need to pay taxes in said currency" - so they are demand backed) is exactly responsible for the volatility in the crypto currency markets everybody hates - and that is only there - so people can scam others. Its designed. Everybody hates it - you love it.
Also its dumb as fuck. Because neckbeard with his "mining PC" certainly is doing nothing of worth - at all. So its just the believe of a believe of worth creation. If enough people believe - worth is higher - if people believe less, the currency tanks. And to be honest - the believe in this constituting worth at all is dumb as fuck. But then most things in life are..
Positive side of fiat is, that you can inflate yourself out of a crisis by printing money. Which is also its negative - if governments "do it too often". That part in current crypto is mostly circumvented by having the mining chances fixed on a slope in the beginning.
Facebook wants to bind its virtual currency to the US Dollar - which is a more promising way of trying to combat volatility - of course depending on the securities you have in your balance sheets. So fiat - with the promise not to act on it.
- Neckbeards proposing, that a computer sucking energy generates wealth is the dumbest shit on earth. It really is. Its useless. Its even harmful.
What made crypto sucessfull though - is to give self proposed nerds a way to seemingly generate worth - by doing something "magical" - which none of them understood. This served the purpose to distribute "stakes" - quite well actually. At least initially. So the money you are getting for your computer doing dumb shit. Is actually the exchange for prepping up the entire system - in a distributed fashion.
If you dont need distributed fashion (faceboom doesnt) - cost of crypto currency becomes much less - because all the effing stuff you do "to trust no one" can be left out. Currently - with crypto not doing jack shit in terms of "mass transactions" - you already have the footprint of minor developed wold countries. Thats the legacy of proof of work.
So everything that you think sounds like a positive - is a huge, factual and very real issue.
So I'm saying that you are dumb.
And I'm reiterating, that everyone in here thinks about "what would this mean for me" - when the real issue is - what would this mean for certain countries, the next financial crisis, economies of trust, setting in stone certain power structures (mastercard, visa, paypal, ... and the california clique).
You guys have no idea, what it means to set this live and start to scam transaction fees off of billions of transactions every day. The oil barons of the past would be laughable petty thiefs in comparison.
This is the first attempt at a multinational corporate state - and everyone on social media is thinking as far as their smartphone use and their dick.
People are so stupid - it hurts. You havent even realized, that f.e. frances finace minister rang alarm bells, and all over the world people are shouting at regulators, to step up their game - so that this will not become a thing - that even states cant control.
Because all your romantic views aside - if facebook now gets to pay people in its own currency... worldwide...
And 99% of people in here do the "I would not buy, because I dont trust them" spiel. Thats the real joke. The first thing you all would do is to sell out your grand mother - if somehow transactionfees for something in your daily life got 2% better than now. We are talking money here. Quit the "im so bobo - I'd never" arguments. If this doesnt get stopped - you'll all be talking entirely differently in about a years time.
You'll pay your lattes in facebook money so fast - even you wont realize that it takes nothing to buy out your trust. You can have it for 2 cents. If you believe a transaction will come thorugh - thats all that is needed. Its not that you use the dollar, because you like the old guys on the papery sheets.
Again - the ignorance in this thread alone. Boys - gals. You arent product reviewing this shit. We are talking potentially viable currency scheme here.