Joseph Lubin questions Libra for using the name "decentralization"

Indra55

Contrasting with the Bitcoin whitepaper introduced a decade ago, which stated, 'Rather than trust a third party financial institution to handle electronic payments, we can rely on cryptographic proof, anyone can participate in the P2P network and check the ledger to thwart groups attempting to reverse transactions.'

Lubin analyzed that Facebook has not abandoned the 'subjective trust' based on traditional financial institutions. Users still have to 'trust' that Libra's value will be backed by a basket of fiat currencies and government securities (ZF bonds). Consequently, Facebook must seek the 'trust' of regulatory authorities. To comply with measures like KYC due diligence and AML anti-money laundering, its digital wallet Calibra will require user identity verification. Additionally, businesses must 'trust' that the Libra network will fulfill its responsibilities by running nodes to verify transactions on the system.

Furthermore, Lubin noticed concerns about the tendency towards 'centralized management' in the Libra infrastructure. He emphasized, 'Perhaps more noteworthy is that Facebook wants us to believe that Libra will eventually transition to a public chain, where everyone can verify the network. This contrasts with using restrictive standards to assess participating members and granting control to 28 companies (current state).'

Despite Calibra holding the advantage of potentially reaching 2 billion users and possibly gaining fame for its straightforward and easy-to-use cryptocurrency user experience, Lubin believes that Libra made bold promises without resolving trust issues. Thus, before Facebook fulfills its commitments, Libra is like a 'centralized' wolf dressed in the 'decentralized' sheep's clothing.

Lubin concluded by stating that ConsenSys developers analyzed the Libra code and found that the project drew inspiration from many Ethereum ideas. From a technical perspective, the Libra project is expected to be implemented properly. Moving forward, besides continuous stress testing, Lubin expressed that Facebook must instill a crucial concept in its developers: 'Trust in their promises.

Kahn332

This seems to be untrusted.

Jafar224

This analogy is quite apt.